There was this APPALLING news on TV a few days ago. And you thought it happened in some third world country. But it happened in here at Bay City, Michigan.
Mr. Schur, a 93 y/o widower, who lived alone and had no children, was found dead in his own house. The autopsy has determined that he died of hypothermia. When the police came to his house, the indoor temperature was 32 degrees. Mr. Schur was lying on the floor wearing 4 layers of clothes and a winter jacket.
According to the news, Mr. Schur was behind his electricity bills to Bay City Electric Light and Power by $1,000. The company put a limiter device to restrict his consumption of power on January 13. He was found dead 6 days later. The power company acclaimed that this limiter can be reset. But somehow Mr. Schur did not or could not do it himself.
WHAT THE BLOODY HELL!
Why in the whole world does the power company want to shut off electricity in this dreadful wintery coldness? FOR WHAT? For a LOUSY thousand dollars, a poor soul froze to death.
And those CROOKS from Wall Street were reported yesterday that they are still planning on having bonus of 18 BILLION DOLLARS this year despite the fact that they are using the bailout money from the people.
What about that lady from California who just delivered 8 babies? She already has 6 children. She and all her kids are living with her parents. Who does she think she is that she is entitled to have more children and in the meanwhile she is uncapable of raising them? And what kind of infertility doctor would do such a procedure if it was not for the concern of his own bank account and fame?
Since when people have become so SHAMELESSLY DESPERATE?
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6樓. California Sunshine2009/02/10 13:41sad story
My heart aches as I was reading along your article... What a sad story and what a poor old man being frozen to death just because he couldn't pay the utility bill! My question is, why isn't there social worker involved in this case? Americans care about abused kids, what about old people who lived alone by themselves?
As for that octuplet's mother, her name is Nadya Suleman if you're interested, I don't understand what she was thinking at all.... She said she has been dreaming of having a big family because she was the only child when growing up. What kind of reason that is? Not to mention all her kids are from in vitro! I guess some people are just selfish as well as irresponsible.
My question is, why isn't there social worker involved in this case? Americans care about abused kids, what about old people who lived alone by themselves?
my guess is that Mr. Schur might had been doing well by himself before the tragedy. his wife had just passed away a year ago. according to the bay city times, he did not enroll in any senior citizen program like home delivered meals or other services. his phone was not working, in addition to the power being shut off, when the police came to his house. on top of all these, people simply do not go out of the house as often in the cold snowing months. so NONE of his neighbors knew he had died or had problems in the house. then, some of the follow-up news about Schur was that there will be a mailman "check in" service in bay city -- the mailman will notify the agency for any unusual accumulative mails in the mailbox. still, it does NOT sound like they are able to reach out for all elderly who is in need.
purr 於 2009/02/11 11:57回覆
5樓. 愛莉思2009/02/05 08:17冷漠的企業
剛剛在 CNN 也看到這則新聞, 覺得很感傷. 一個 93 歲的獨居鰥夫, 一輩子省吃簡用 30 年來連餐廳都捨不上, 最後確是因為積欠電力公司 $1000 而遭到斷電, 凍死在家中. 死前的遺囑中並將畢生全部的財產高達 $ 500,000 捐給當地的醫院, 真是無私的大愛! 比起華爾街貪婪的銀行家, 讓我覺得很感慨, 華爾街貪婪的銀行家就像是打著領帶穿著西裝的高級罪犯 吃人透透. 而卑微的小人物, 無橫財無權無勢, 往往為這個世界付出的更多!its really sad that once again they put money/ profit in front of human life.
purr 於 2009/02/05 12:55回覆
4樓. 鏡2009/02/03 01:17How much does it cost?
i guess the first thing we can do is to protect our family.... then, we may be able to help those who are in need...
tell you a true story: when my baby boy was 1 year old, we took him to a wedding banquet in Hsin-dian on the 2nd floor of an MRT station. after the wedding, the baby wabbled to the MRT elevator. all of a sudden, his finger was pinched by the door (side part). my hubby put his finger in between trying to release him but in vain. i pressed the OPEN button but it didn't work. then we found that the elevator was malfunction but still in use.
we sent the baby to the ER in the hospital and had him had a surgery immediately. thank God he only got four stitches and the nerve and tendon were ok (and there's no scar now). but when we asked the owner of the restaurant why they didn't shut the elevator or put a big warming sign there, you know what? he said, "how much money do you want?"
then we found that my baby was not the first case. they always paid the money to the victims to shut their mouth. when we asked them to fix the elevator, they kept asking if we want MORE MONEY to compensate our lost.....we got really mad....so we went to the MRT company and told the person in charge that if they didn't fix the elevator, we would tell the legislators and the media what had happened.
guess what? they fixed it. at least 500 elevators in MRT station were fixed because they all had the same problem. the steel side of the door was too sharp and the seam between the door and the wall was too wide. they changed the design....and spent millions of dollars on them.
we didn't accept their offer, but the elevators in Taipei MRT was safer since then. i think if you encounter something unfair, you need to FIGHT FOR IT! this is the only way to help yourself and many many good people....I SOLUTE YOU!!!!
Kawai, people like you make the world a MUCH BETTER place to live! your true story is VERY INSPIRING!!! SOLUTE you once again! and THANK YOU for sharing!
purr 於 2009/02/03 11:33回覆SALUTE!
purr 於 2009/02/04 05:11回覆
3樓. Ricardo2009/02/01 16:25Honestly
If I can live up to 93,
I wouldn't mind die in "fresh".
but hypothermia is a SLOW AND VERY PAINFUL way to die. first the tip of all your extremities will feel the BURNING sensation. then it goes NUMB all over. all the organs shut off except the brain, heart and kidneys. till the point your body gives up. its a TORTURE. purr 於 2009/02/01 23:43回覆
2樓. quiqui2009/02/01 12:24The only thing
that we could do is to maintain a positive and peaceful state of mind when something bad happened, because life goes on with our anger or without our anger
mr schur's death has become a CRIMINAL investigation.
http://abclocal.go.com/wjrt/story?section=news/local&id=6633504&rss=rss-wjrt-article-6633504
purr 於 2009/02/02 00:07回覆
1樓. nothing special2009/02/01 11:30This is not a perfect world,
I have no other words. SIGH~lets say....i hope DTE will NOT shut off my power if i'm behind my bills.
purr 於 2009/02/01 23:59回覆
