I like to tell a funny story about death threats. Some years ago, a relative developed some emotional problems around my grandmother's death. This person began inundating my mother (who was executor) with many emails a day, fantastically abusive ones.
Eventually, these escalate to musings like "the world would be better off without you in it."
Mom understandably is freaked out and asks me if she should file a police report. VERY upset. I rush to reassure her:
"Mom, I get death threats all the time. They never do anything about it."
Fun fact: "I get death threats all the time" does not, in any way, reasssure Moms.
"Mom, I get death threats all the time. They never do anything about it."
Fun fact: "I get death threats all the time" does not, in any way, reasssure Moms.
It was, however, very effective at stopping her worrying about my crazy relative!
To be clear, I haven't had a credible death threat ("I have a gun and I know where you live [insert address]") for quite some time. Most of them are along the lines of "Die, bitch, die", or "Someone should kill you" or "I'd like to watch you die in [slow, painful way]".
But even those are--I cannot communicating how devastating it is the first time a bunch of them descend on you at once. And I've never gone through anything like what Ford must be experiencing.
So seriously, guys, whether you believe it or not, have some compassion.
So seriously, guys, whether you believe it or not, have some compassion.
No one deserves what she's experiencing. No one. She's now in the center of a political firestorm, and unlike those of us who are used to living public lives, she's had no time to develop the Komodo-dragon-like hide required.
Please remember you're talking about a human being.
Please remember you're talking about a human being.
