Just flush it
Clarence Page offered a sensible commentary today, which we printed on our Second Opinion page under the headline, "Hate crime media coverage brings hoaxes."
He concluded: "as we take incidents of racial vandalism seriously, our seriousness should include a dose of healthy skepticism. Overreaction only rewards the troubled souls who commit such offenses in the first place, whatever their sick reasons might be. They don't deserve that satisfaction."
No sooner could I nod in agreement than I had to shake my head in dismay at this report from Raleigh: "N.C. State investigates noose left in restroom."
The noose was made of toilet paper and found in a bathroom of a vehicle maintenance building -- in other words where hardly anyone would see it.
Yet Chancellor James Oblinger said the incident could be treated as a crime, adding: "Even if it is intended as a prank, it is disruptive and an offense to a safe learning and working environment."
I wonder how disruptive it would have been if the person who found the toilet paper noose had simply flushed it.
Comments (5)
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Doug, you and I are on the same page with that; here's what I wrote that the chancellor should have said: "I�m the head of the largest research university in North Carolina. You�re going to ask me about a wad of toilet paper? Just flush [it]. Problem solved."
Posted on November 9, 2007 10:25 AM
Thanks, Jon. My face is, er, flushed at the moment but I promise I didn't see your post of yesterday before writing mine today.
Posted on November 9, 2007 10:57 AM
I don't know if this is relevant or not, but a few years ago I was using a public restroom, I think it was in an airport, and I looked down and there was some crumpled-up toilet paper on the floor which kind of looked like the profile of Dwight D. Eisenhower. I remember how I thought it was kind of ironic that here was essentially the savior of the free world lying on the floor of a kind of dirty restroom. Whata ya know.
Oh...How about that Lorraine? After all these years here she is talking up that Montagnard fella who fought AGAINST communists. What's up with this? Is somebody changing?
Posted on November 9, 2007 11:05 AM
The noose was made of toilet paper and found in a bathroom of a vehicle maintenance building -- in other words where hardly anyone would see it.*Doug
No doubt it was a confuse Republican candiate who was upset that nobody was answering his toe tapping political agenda.
Posted on November 9, 2007 11:24 AM
Doug, I think it testifies to the overarching common sense of our solution that we two arrived at it independently.
Posted on November 9, 2007 1:10 PM