Survivor's Greed

I've been noticing a disturbing trend recently on Facebook. I'll see a good story posted about a Joplin tornado victim getting a donation, or a similar blessing, there will be several "likes" and such, maybe a positive comment here and there, but then a certain type of person shows up.

You know this person, although it's not just one or two people. It's the "but... but... but..." type of person. The comments are immediately noticeable:

"That's fine, but what about the other families?"
"So how about that donation be put (insert their place of choice) instead of (actual place) because (reason)?"
"I can think of many other people that deserve this over (name of family this poster doesn't like)."

But usually it starts with "but what about X?" "What about Y?"

Let's be honest, people. We're all adults here. What you MEAN is "But what about ME?"

You see, I've been working in, around, and with the public long enough to know when someone's just jealous, and jealousy is seemingly rampant online, as the not-picked get all uppity about the "chosen" while at the same time trying to sound like they're only interested in the greater good.

"I lost my place in the tornado too, and it'd be nice to have some of that money, but don't worry about me, I'm more interested in (random special interest group even Satan wouldn't say anything bad about)."

Let's edit the above phrase into what the poster really means:

"I lost my place in the tornado too, and it'd be nice to have some of that money, but don't worry about me, I'm more interested in (random special interest group even Satan wouldn't say anything bad about)."

Ah, there we go.

Now, maybe it's just the cynical side of me acting up, but NEWS FLASH: these people were chosen. They didn't do anything special to get whatever special honor/donation they're getting, and I'd be willing to bet they'd rather have NOT lost a home/family member in order to get it. Heck, chances are, they'd be more than happy having not been affected by a friggin' tornado, and let someone else get the blessing.

I lost MY home in a tornado, too. You don't see me crying about it every time someone else has something nice happen to them.

Bottom line: stop whining. Someone else got something you didn't. If you're jealous, be jealous, but don't drag these people down in the process. You're the equivalent of a child whining because someone got a lollipop but you didn't.

Grow up. Joplin's survivors deserve better than that, and survivors that get jealous over someone else's good fortune are a disgrace to how the people of this city have represented themselves.