Poison Plays Broadway

Or The Delcine of Western Civilization In The Time Of Anonymity

Let's get the disclaimer out of the way right up front.

I am a Poison Fan (yes, that's fan with a capital F). Back in the day, I didn't miss a show, I was at the record store the day the new albums were released, slept in the parking lot of Tower Records more than once to score good seats and once spent so much time at work trying to win tickets for the album release party my boss called his friend at the radio station to get me tickets so I'd get back to work.

Now, that that's out of the way.....

I didn't realize Poison was performing at the Tony Awards until the next day when the Today Show showed Bret Michaels getting hit in the head by a piece of scenery. Ouch. I emailed some of my friends from the "good old days" and one responded with a video clip of the accident.

While the video was slightly disturbing, the comments on msnbc.com were shocking. Almost every comment was downright hateful. The delight these people took in Bret getting hit by the scenery was unbelievable. I've never met the guy, but he seems like a decent enough human being, I do not understand the hate. You could practically see them rubbing their hands together over their keyboards and cackling with glee. It's not like the guy is a monster or committed some heinous crime. If you don't like the music, fine, if you don't like him, fine, but to take such joy in his misfortune is pathetic.

All of this left me pondering, when did it become okay to be mean and nasty to people just because you can do it anonymously?

Coincidentally, I saw a tweet today announcing that Trent Reznor (of Nine In Nails) is leaving Twitter. (I didn't know he was there...sorry I missed it.) His explanation is interesting, sad and a disturbing commentary on the state of the virtual world.