Tremendous amounts of ink, both actual and virtual, have been spilled in speculation of when the country began to go to hell. Every scholar, historian, and pundit has a theory about the moment that we began our downward spiral.
Of course, even a cursory reading of history will tell you that we have been flirting with circling the drain in one way or another since Cain brained Abel and stashed his body in the altogether vain hope that the Almighty would be none the wiser. Our willful ignorance of one another in deference to our own whims is nothing new. It may be pure speculation to try to pinpoint the moment that humanity decided to play fast and loose with its potential for greatness, but you do not need me to recite the last decade’s worth of headlines to know that we have accelerated the process, particularly in recent years.
Over the weekend, a man was found dead. His name was Nicholas John Acker. He was 36. He was employed as a midnight shift mechanic at the USPS Detroit Network Distribution Center in Allen Park, Michigan. His body was located in a conveyor belt system.
His fiancée, Stephanie Jaszcz, became concerned because Nicholas never came home and never called or sent a text. She went to the facility gates, only to learn that Nicholas never clocked out. After a flurry of first responders, Stephanie learned that Nicholas was dead, and no one even noticed.
The USPS gave it the old college try, but was resoundingly tone-deaf in its response.
Via the Daily Caller:
The USPS said it was “deeply saddened” by Acker’s death in a Nov. 10 statement.
“The United States Postal Service is deeply saddened by the loss of our employee at the Detroit Network Distribution Center (NDC) in Allen Park, MI. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family. The NDC is fully operational at this time,” the statement reads, according to Click On Detroit.
Acker’s fiancé reacted to the statement, calling the comment about the mail still moving as “gross” and “inhumane.”
“‘The mail’s still moving’? Gross. A man gone. A veteran. A husband. A human being. And all you can think of is mail keeps moving? Inhumane. It’s gross,” she told Click On Detroit.
The woman has a point. Her fiancé is dead, and the USPS has to remind people that there will be no interruption in service. Likely because there were those out there who thought, “How will this affect my mail delivery?” (sic)
As Donne once wrote:
No man is an island,
Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thine own
Or of thine friend’s were.
Each man’s death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
And therein lies the problem. We hear the bell toll and we care nothing for whom it tolls. It is not tolling for us, at least not today. That piece of information duly logged, we turn our attention back to traffic, the news, the NFL, Trump, the shutdown, or whatever dominates the headlines every day. We hold forth as we “own the Libs” or the “MAGATS” or some asinine, conspiracy-addled podcaster who is trying to stretch 15 minutes of fame into 1500 years. A man is dead, a fiancée is in mourning, but let’s open up our phones. We haven’t scrolled in at least 30 minutes, and somebody, somewhere has to have posted something that will either justify our opinions, or allow us to indulge in our hourly Two Minutes Hate. Or pride.
The bell will toll for all of us soon enough. What will we leave in our wake, and who will pause to remember us?
Say a prayer for Nicholas John Acker and Stephanie Jaszcz tonight. It’s the least we can do.
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