{"id":616,"date":"2007-03-27T07:18:24","date_gmt":"2007-03-27T12:18:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ocularfusion.net\/?p=616"},"modified":"2022-01-02T07:38:24","modified_gmt":"2022-01-02T12:38:24","slug":"schadenfreude-has-its-limits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ocularfusion.net\/?p=616","title":{"rendered":"Schadenfreude Has Its Limits"},"content":{"rendered":"

As much as I like to joke around about the UNC-Duke rivalry, schadenfreude has its limits. It goes without saying (but I’m going to say it anyway) that the feeling doesn’t extend to a tragic situation like this.<\/a><\/p>\n

As the father of three sons who are increasingly out and about and pushing the envelope of safety, this one hits home. UNC mascot Jason Ray sounds like the kind of son that anyone would be proud to claim. My prayers go out for his family, friends, the UNC community and the unfortunate driver who was an unwitting participant in this tragic event.<\/p>\n

Over the past month, Number One Son has had two close brushes with death. The first came on a trip home from a basketball game in Tuscaloosa when he topped a knoll on a stormy night and encountered a tree across the road. He managed to swerve around it but ended up facing the other way as he skidded to a stop. He never left the road, but it shook him up pretty good.<\/p>\n

This past Sunday, he was enjoying the unseasonably warm Alabama weather while riding a jet ski on the Tennessee River. He had come to a stop when another driver accidentally rammed him from the side. He and his passenger were both thrown into the water, and the other jet ski skimmed across his head with a glancing blow. Thankfully, his passenger was not hurt, and Number One got off relatively easy with a large welt and a 3-ibuprofen headache.<\/p>\n

Now I know how the physics of these things work–a few milliseconds and a few millimeters are the difference between a funny story told around a school lunchroom table and two parents and an entire community immersed in grief. One thing I do not understand is why<\/em> Jason is dead and Number One is alive. That is a great mystery, one that stirs within me the utmost in humility.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As much as I like to joke around about the UNC-Duke rivalry, schadenfreude has its limits. It goes without saying (but I’m going to say it anyway) that the feeling doesn’t extend to a tragic situation…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29,30,48,42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-college-basketball","category-duke-basketball","category-family","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ocularfusion.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ocularfusion.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ocularfusion.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ocularfusion.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ocularfusion.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=616"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ocularfusion.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9644,"href":"https:\/\/www.ocularfusion.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616\/revisions\/9644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ocularfusion.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ocularfusion.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ocularfusion.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}