There is, at least, some official closure for the families of 239 people who disappeared along with Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. Today, officials anounced that the plane went down in the Southern Indian Ocean. And while there are still plenty of questions, organizers got the news out as quickly as possible. Maybe a little too quickly.
Many families of the passengers have been staying in a hotel as the search efforts went on, getting updates during group meetings. But today, they and others received a text message saying, “It is with deep regrets that we have to assume beyond any reasonable doubt that MH370 has been lost and that none of those on board survived.” Short and to the point.
Of course, they were probably getting just as much information second-hand anyway. All of the major news networks around the world have been carrying the search on a nearly 24/7 basis. And texing has become a fairly accepted way of doing things. People break up via text, some companies have even fired people that way.
But when it comes to such sensitive issues as life and death, does timeliness really trump being taseful? Our Man on the Edge, Robert Wilder, is a text-a-holic, but is that the way you’d want to hear such delicate news?
