Man found dead in bar....
 

This is at the bottom of an article about someone being charged in an underage drinking case.

This is sad. A man goes into a bar, sits down, and no one notices he died until it was time to close. And, on top of that, he doesn't even get his own article in the paper, but rather a blurb at the bottom of another one.

Have we become so jaded that something like this doesn't shock or surprise anyone?

In response to Deni's question:

He sat there for hours before anyone noticed. If you click the link, you would notice that this happened on a Wednesday--not exactly a busy day for bars.

The news isn't that he died--but that NO ONE NOTICED.

http://www.mariettatimes.com/news/st...1200774531.asp

It wasn't foul play, no wrong doing was done... why should it be news? People die of natural causes every day.

Great. You guys prove my point about how we don't give a fuck about our fellow human beings.

Why the thread close?

I for one think that, while it's sad, it makes sense that nobody noticed that he was dead until right before last call. People, especially if they walk into a bar in groups, generally mind their own business. Even I, being a fairly social barfly, don't usually talk to strangers at a bar and had I been there this situation probably wouldn't have been different.

I'm still reopening the thread open for discussion though.

Thank you, Beaner. I was right annoyed at that closure.

I don't see how you can seriously think that every death should be front page news, Lekk. Thousands of people die from natural causes every day, and we're supposed to place all of them as serious news? How and why?

This kind of reminds me of Collateral... Vincent's story about a man who dies on a subway train and nobody notices til 6 hours later, and then the irony at the end when it happens to him.
Very sad, I think, but a bar is more believable - how are you to know if the guy is dead, or just passed out and stinky?

Heh, glad to see I'm not the only one who remembered Collateral after reading this. Still there was something similar to this a few weeks ago. Apparently some older fellow died while sitting at home in front of the TV set.

By the time folks called to complain about the blaring TV set an entire year had passed by and he was somewhat preserved due to the settings in the house. I always wondered how the hell the electricity didn't get cut off.

I'm just amazed some folks literally have no one, not even their neighbors, to check up on them.

I think it's pretty sad that the guy died and nobody even noticed. At least this isn't another mindless shooting, though.

Well... at least he didn't try to get up and drive home. :\

But yeah its at a public place, so its rare to go unnoticed... even for a subway quote from a movie.

Ahaha. I totally thought Collateral as well =3

Of course this guy's death won't hit top headlines... Britney's new hairdo is much more important! The news in general is jaded. You could watch the movie Blood Diamond to get a real taste of the kinda stuff most folks here don't hear about.

Personally, I figured someone would've *smelled* he was dead. Not by rotting, but due to bowels releasing.

Anyhow, I guarantee you that dozens if not hundreds died in Africa today, but we don't care. Why? General sentiment is that it's every man for himself. Or we're jaded because there are six billion of us on the face of the planet. Sucks that he died, but it happens all the time, and everywhere. Just shrug it off and shuffle onward -- that's what I do.

It could have been a one-off. Maybe on that particular night no one had the chance to check on him. Maybe he was catatonic every night =s. It could happen.

Well, he was in a bar, probably died with a beer in his hand. How many people have seen someone pass out in a bar, or just from drinking any time or anywhere? Last year some drunk kid wandered into the student center where I work and just passed out in the dining section, head on arms on table. We called campus safety when I noticed that he hadnt been moving for 10 minutes, at least. He turned out to be fine, but seriously. People pass out from drinking too much all the time. People around him probably just thought he was passed out.

Granted, seeing as it was a wednesday (and probably not busy), I'd think the bartender would have at least noticed... :-\

Wouldn't that have increased his chances of being found earlier if he was there like that every night? Someone would recognize him or remember that there's always that dude that's knocked the hell out.

I chalk it up to people too wrapped up in their routine to notice the folks who fell between the cracks.

I mean maybe he was like that every time he was in there, but when he'd been checked on before he always said he was fine. That's one way he could've been overlooked. Unless the bar is staffed by incompetent idiots.

I think it's sad, and unfortunate that the man died alone in a bar, however, you can't expect the newspaper to report all deaths. It's interesting news, yes, but sadly, it's not something the news feels is "newsworthy."

How is this any different from the genocide in Darfur or other regions? We turn a blind eye to the massacre of MILLIONS OF PEOPLE and then this one drunken guy in a bar is at least given newspaper space while other WORLD NEWS are not? Isn't this something to ponder about.

How is it different? Well for one, this was natural fucking causes, you git. No one was murdered here. No, this is NOTHING to ponder about. You know why? Darfur is reported in the news, so is Iraq, so is Africa. You know where the one drunken dude wasn't reported? CNN, FOX, Television in general. Jesus christ, if you want to make a political point, make sure you aren't a borderline mental midget first.

People like you are why we moderate liberals wince when they interview university students.

Yes, you have a point. The point I was trying to make was that apathy is rampant in our society - also on a larger scale.

You didn't argue apathy, you argued coverage. We have unprecendented access to international news in this era. We have graphic coverage of pretty much everything. What you think is apathy, I call being overwhelmed. You know who wants to save the world? Deluded people. You can't save the world. All you can do is try and make life a little better for the people around you. I think most people will try and do that. But preaching world building saviour tactics is counter-productive and exactly why people who want to make the world better get ignored.

Coverage or lack of is also a sign of apathy. When one man does indeed get a small snippet for the apathy of bar attenders about his death (not to mention these people are drunk), does each individual death around the globe get equal coverage? True, horrendous global events get coverage, but not nearly enough that it deserves. It is the communal lack of apathy that spurs this lack of coverage, and then more coverage of less important newsworthy events. It's this terrible cycle.

I didn't make a point anywhere about "saving the world". I can't save the world. You can't save the world. What's the point you're trying to make? Perhaps you better get off your high horse of cynicism and assumptions.

I never said he should get a fucking headline above the fold, now did I? What pisses me off is the whole "oh, by the way, before I forget to mention" attitude I get from the whole article--which is about sentencing someone for permitting minors to drink. The two are not even related--except for alcohol on premises.

Instead of doing that--a simple obituary would have been better.

I have to agree. The blokes death does deserve some recognition and for it to be shoved at the end of an article about sentencing an individual for allow minors to drink is wrong. It should have had something like a mini article on the side column or something to that degree.

It is news, maybe not the death of the man as such, it is no big shock as death happens all the time, but it kind of reflects on the staff who were working that night and staff in general, who don't seem to pay attention to their customers. I for one have only come across a handful of bartenders who pay attention to you and try to slow one down when drinking (if too much) and actually make smal talk when collecting glasses from your table to check everything is ok. Now I understand that it's not possible to do this if it is a busy night, but I think someone already mentioned it was a Wednesday which over here is a pretty relaxed night compared to Thursdays and the weekend. My question is why did no one notice anything "odd" about him when they go to collect glasses from his table? (I'm assuming he was actually drinking in the bar)

A) coverage or the lack of coverage is apathy. So no matter what the media does, it's apathy.

B) What does it matter that the people were drunk?

C) You're right. The 24 hour coverage by CNN of what is going on in Iraq isn't nearly enough. Quick, let's sanction 6 extra hours in a day so it can be 30.

D) You're right about less important news stories getting coverage. I mean, can we just stop hearing about how Anna Nichole Smith died? I mean, really, do we have to know about one person's death of natural causes, is that really so important? O wait, according to you it is.

First off, it was an oh-by-the way because somebody died in a bar of natural causes, and that doesn't happen every day. If he'd died in the parking lot, you'd never of heard of it. The minors drinking is breaking a law, this is just some dude who had a heart attack in his chair and went quietly. That isn't news. At all.

Secondly, you know how you get an obit? Your family pays for one. You don't just get one when you die. The paper would be 100 pages long. Christ, I'm left wing, and you bleeding hearts are making me ill with your lack of logic.

So why put it there? The two aren't even related.

Duh.

The news isn't that he died--but that he spent 5 hours in the bar and no one noticed. NO ONE. Actually, I take that back--yes, it is news that someone died of natural causes in that bar--instead of in a fight.

Additional Spam:
THANK YOU for figuring out what I'm talking about.

Um... NOT to give an assumption of things, but then again what do I know, I don't visit bars. I did visit a few times just for whatever reason at the time, but it wasn't to drink since I don't drink myself but to hang out with my friends.

But... maybe its the barkeep's negligence that you're mad at, Lek? What do we know about the man? Would it be odd or NOT so odd if anyone try to bother him? I can imagine him looking all hunched over with his drink and his bottle looking like he's there to "drown" so no one would want to bother him and hear his troubles... If no one noticed him, he must had went in this bar alone. And for what purpose would that be, besides hitting up women, but to drink?

I don't know anything about bars so you may drop whatever I said, but don't people go there to just drown besides being merry? Would you trouble the man by waking him up to his nightmare in front of the alcohol again? That's just how I pictured it if I was to walk into that bar and presuming I saw this said man that is presumed dead on the spot.

Like no one noticed, he probably most likely went there alone to drown into his own sorrows... and if no one noticed, maybe he was seated at the far end of the bar to be "left alone"? That could explain why the barkeep COULD didn't notice.

And yeah its sad... but I think you're taking this too much in consideration to the fact of no one seem to give a damn. Maybe the man did wanted his peace. Even if it ends with alcohol.

Leonard was a friendly guy. And, to be honest, the way this bar is set up--you can't miss anything.

So, it's not just the staff--but the people who were there, too.

No one noticed that this man never went to the bathroom in 5 hours?

It seems to be common nowadays for newspapers and news networks to only show the really brutal stuff. They're looking for reads and viewers, and sadly, alot of today's society likes to see the brutal stuff. Someone would be more likely to buy a newspaper if it had that latest bombing, or latest natural phenomena. Something like a guy dying in a bar unnoticed, isn't something they'll make a big deal about. Its something they'd put in a newspaper, because obviously, its something people will read. But they wouldn't see any logical reason to put more emphasis on it rather than a nice big juicy news story.

Oh. Thanks for clearing that up.

Well... one thing for sure though, I often hear that when people die, they kinda... piss/shat themselves. So I'm surprised he wasn't found smelling all fresh after 5 hours. :\

I wouldn't think that they always relieve themselves as they die. It all depends on how peacefully they die. And I guess it also depends on how much waste material he had in him before he went to the bar. If he hadn't eaten most of the day, there would be less chance of him exfeciating himself (is exfeciate the right word?). Mind you however, it is a bar, so he might have been drinking.

So when you're at the bar, you notice people getting up and going to the bathroom? You're there with your friends and you spend your time observing the other patrons to see how often they go to the can? Get a fucking grip, Lekky.

It's a bar. If a dude wanted to disappear at a table, he can. It's not that shocking, nor is it some big damn travesty.

Go to hell, Deni. Yes, I notice people getting up all the time. I tend to sit there and LOOK at people. It's what I do. It's what I've always done. And the bathroom line was a joke.

For Christ's sake, if you don't look around the bar, you never know who is walking towards you, near you, or whatever. The phrase "excuse me" can start a fight because the other person is so drunk that they don't understand you.

So, you tell me to get a fucking grip. Get a fucking clue, and leave me alone.

Hopefully you aren't looking at me when I'm going to the bathroom, creep.

Ha. Ha. Ha.

You know what I mean.

No offense Leknaat, but I seriously think you gave "Leonard" too much credit to be angry about how no one is giving a damn.

I'm SURE there's dozens of stories like this before that happened and seemed like it wasn't worth a damn.

Like for example... in my hometown, a Hispanic got ran over 5 times. FIVE different HIT & RUN cars ran over him. No huge investigation was launched or anything. He was pretty much dead by the time the first car ran over him. Who fault were they, that first car that did killed him or was he walking and didn't see the car coming? No one knows... shit happens ya know. What's sad is he had no family or anyone to claim him. So he ended up just like a blurb in the newspaper. :\

I know you're feeling sensitive right now about humanity and their apathy toward emotion about such things, its refreshing that you do feel that. We all do on occasion, but ONLY occasionally or otherwise we'd feel let down EVERY time if we continue feeling this way about what we read.

I give up.

I'm sorry I'm one of these people who thinks its a shame that we're so focused on ourselves that we ignore what's around us.

Sorry, Blah.

Don't ever make posts like that on GFF. It's like a fucking batsignal for the emo lynch committee.

Newspapers and other media outlets have a great thing going on. They throw around the hardcore news, things you need to know, then they throw in the water skiing poodle. It's unnecessary, but you gotta have it to lighten up the mood. Nobody likes bad news, but everybody loves a good story about an ironic death.

It's pretty much this: Here's a story about a bar that broke the law (serious business part). Also here's an interesting story about a bar.(this part ends the serious business with an interesting, and somewhat amusing anecdote. How ironic someone died of natural causes, right?)

Now not only do I know the law is crackin' down on the bar scene, but I'm chuckling on the inside all thanks to that one guy who died in a weird way.

This man's death is some seriously good news all on its own; it's a freebie topic for the water cooler tomorow and you can bet I'll be bringing it up with my mexican coworker who undoubtably could care less but will be thankful that I filled in the akward silences that could have been.

Oh yeah, I'm sure you know the private history of everyone in every bar you've ever gone into. If someone were to sit quietly in a corner and do nothing to draw attention, you'd surely notice them and walk over to say hello because they were so deliberately avoiding being noticed.

This isn't about an emo-lynching, this is about your point being backwards. This isn't a matter of people being selfish about only looking out for themselves, it's about a guy who was quietly in a corner, and so no one noticed when he continued to be quietly in a corner after he died. You want to be left alone about things like this, don't argue a stupid point and act like you have a moral highground because you "care" more.