Cancer claims Bob Jelenic, 58

The only thing I don't get is why THAT seems to trouble everyone. This should really be the last post on this, but it won't be. Somebody else is going to have to be the contrarian and take some snipe at the guy for the benefit of the guys at the cool table.

I don't know. Maybe the thought of cancer shakes me to the bone too much. Because I still don't think anyone deserves it.

 

Quick hit, then I'm out because I don't have anything nice to say:

DD, yours is somewhat a pie in the sky expectation. No one's going to come on here and post "I didn't agree with his business practices. I feel he was unfair to his employees."

They're going to spew expletive-filled invective, saying all the things they would do to his corpse.

If what you're suggesting could happen, I'm willing to bet it would fly. But it won't. And we both know that.

 

As a JRC minion for 15 years, I'll keep it short and polite:
Grantland Rice is probably curious about what the Great Scorer has written next to Jelenic's name.
Although I just told my boss, and she asked, "Did he take it with him?"

 

I didn't agree with his business practices. I feel he was unfair to his employees.

 

Got no horse in this race. Didn't know the man, never worked for a place he ran, etc.

But this discussion point got me to wondering: What's the statute of limitations on death? As in, when is it finally OK to be critical of, humorous about or even mean toward someone who has died?

Pretty sure the "other than that, Mrs. Lincoln" joke didn't spring up for a few days (weeks? months? years?) after that particular demise.

Everybody dies, bad guys same as good. Guess not going to the funeral -- or typing here -- is best way to make any frosty feelings known.

Maybe we should seal this thread for the proper period, then open it up with no inordinate restrictions.

*** Just saw IJAG's post and I see it now: Keeping this thread from becoming an invective-ridden cesspool isn't about respecting the newly departed. It's about sparing all of us the regurgitation of such junk, none of which would do any of us any good. That's how I took it, anyway. ***

 

If that's a shot at me, Joe, let me clarify.

People who are saying we shouldn't show Jelenic respect because of the way he ran his business are opening the door to those who just want to vent and be disrespectful.

You can disagree with someone, even post-mortem, without being an asshole about it. THAT was the point.

 

I don't think Joe was taking a shot at you, IJAG. I believe he was just agreeing with a good point you made.

Really, what is the difference between taking a shot at the guy here and a columnist wishing a heart attack upon someone in print?

(Wait a second, I've got it -- the other guy isn't alive to respond.)

 

What shotglass just said.

I was agreeing with what I read into your point, IJAG, because I think it's a good point: I feel better if I don't stumble upon a thread that is nothing but vile and angry personal comments. Even if dude's alive.

Besides, this encourages us to say now (in the proper threads) what we've got gurgling inside us about Zell, Singleton, Murdoch and any others.

[Edit: I can be pretty vile and angry about this business or "management" in general. Try not to go nuclear-profane on individuals.]

 

See, this has morphed into an interesting -- to me -- discussion.

I think, in some odd way -- and those who worked for the company will roll their eyes -- that we're stressing being civil because "he was one of us."

But let's stretch the argument to the limit and say a modern-day Adolph Hitler died of cancer. Would we be expected to be polite and civil about the life he lived, because death is sad, and because death from cancer is scary to many?

Probably not. Which is what makes this an interesting discussion.

 

Actually, SF, I'm taking it to THAT extreme.

Nobody should have to go through that.

 

It could have happened a nicer fellow.