To think this man is awesome

[PatPig]

fox8.com/2013/05/06/neighbor-i-got-amanda-berry-send-the-police-out/

Hell yeah!

I found stories of the few people who survived the collapse of the twin towers uplifting and yes even joyful, I celebrated the rescue of the chilean miners.

Both were tragic events that I did not find at all amusing/joyful.

To suggest that people can only feel one emotion about an event is peculiar.

Actually, I've just read in several articles that Charles Ramsey has pledged any reward money he receives to the women he helped rescue. One fund has raised $3,300 just today. He's a dishwasher who earns minimum wage.

I'd say that elevates him to feckin' awesome, actually.

Yep he's here:

ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2013/05/07/tonight-on-ac360-cleveland-hero/?hpt=ac_mid

He explains at 5:30 onwards

is he still awesome? www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/cleveland-hero-charles-ramsey-8702415 Genuine question. Everyone calling him a hero, is he still a hero to you?

He wasn't a hero to me. He did a good thing, the right thing, and the interview clips were entertaining. It now appears he did some bad things too.

People, eh.

somedayma The moral if the story is no good deed goes unpunished.
If you have done some bad things in the past, you might as well give up- don't ever help anyone.

Moral of the story

I believe that is a problem, especially in the US - if you have done bad things in the past, it can basically fuck up your chances of ever getting a job.

I didn't call him a hero either, he's a man who has done good and bad in his life, just like everyone else. I liked him in the interviews and I think he deserves some credit for walking into a situation that not everyone would have involved themselves in.

His bad deed may be more extreme than yours, for example, but his good deed is probably more extreme too.

I'm not suggesting that the one cancels out the other, but I'd still take Charles Ramsey and his funny, charming interview over the mud-rakers who ran straight out to dig up the dirt on him.

It would be a shame to think that the next time someone needs help, the person able to provide it walks away because their personal life isn't up to scratch and they are scared of having past mistakes thrown in their face.

I agree with SarahAndFuck.

This where simplistic hero/villain stuff gets us, isn't it? Lionised beyond all proportion for one good deed, people then see him being hero-worshiped and jump to point out he isn't all that by telling people he's got a criminal record.

His crimes sound awful.But what are his chances of any kind of redemption if this is how people react to him getting attention for doing quite a good thing?

He did the right thing. I doubt he'd describe himself as a hero, but he saw someone in need and he helped her.

I don't see any way in which that isn't a good thing. Plenty of people would have gone back in their house and decided it was none of their business.

he was in the right place at the right time and made the decision most of us hope we would have made too. he didn't plan it with any agenda to make himself a hero or to gain publicity for himself. he acted to help another person in trouble when he was called upon to do so. he mightn't be the typical 'hero' we think of who runs into a burning building to save a child but in reality that guy didn't know what was behind that door or whether he was being tricked as part of some game or a set up for tv. he said himself he thought it was a domestic violence thing so he could have been walking in on a man in a violent rage or with a weapon. yes he's a big guy but he didn't know what was there. so yes, what he did- was very brave in my eyes. i dont think everyone would have done the same in that situation- even if we think we would- survival instinct kicks in and we would asses the situation wrt our own safety first.

his past behaviour is appalling. there is no doubt about that. but that does not mean he didn't do a heroic thing on monday. credit where credit is due and in this instance it is. he has served his sentence and is now 10 years clear. he has pledged his rewards to the kidnapping victims and although seems a bit of an animated character- doesn't seem to be seeking to gain from this in any way. we all have pasts that we regret and woudl do differently given the chance- we all expect to be able to move forwards and better ourselves without constantly being told " you cant be good now- you were bad once"- like i tell my children, very few people are entirely bad or entirely good- we all do good and bad things but hope overall to be able to be good. what would be the point in trying to be good if people told you you couldn't be because you were once bad?

www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/may/08/charles-ramsey-interview-cleveland-race-issues
This is an interesting slant....

oh god they're all desperate to their articles out there with a 'different' 'unseen before they pointed it out to us' aspect. i agree with some of the comments underneath it. it's odd for a child of any colour (pretty or otherwise) to run into the arms of a strange man of any colour. especially a child who had spent all six years of her life knowing only one abusive man.

the man wasn't making a never before spoken observation. he was playing a well known and well used tactic for humourous effect. whether he actually believed it (that a white girl running to a black man= problems) or not isn't known.

Interesting article. And you know I let out one of those explosive sneeze type laughs when I saw it too. It's funny because it's true. Humourously astute words from his experience of being a black man in America.

seeing as America is very much a gun culture ,he is a coloured fella with form I would say he is a hero .That could have went spectacularly wrong for that man.

Do we want a world where people continue to "walk on by" in case the press dig up their past? People are complex. They do wrong things, and good things.

Surely, the fact that he has been convicted of domestic violence, but moved to help the victim, when he thought the matter was a comparatively simple domestic violence case, is personal progress to be applauded?

Many previous perpetrators of domestic violence would always be on the side of another perpetrator, wouldn't they?

For all we know, he went to help, because he sincerely regrets his previous behaviour.

Or maybe he's still hell to live with. It doesn't matter. Because he's someone who did what was right one random day, not a politician running for office!