Last week we ran a Caption This Photo Blog Item with a photo of Bret Voelkel and the 48 Hour Camaro, which he had unfortunately just ran into a concrete barricade. Similar circumstances have occurred at different events I have announced over the past several years, and each time it makes me think human’s have less and less sympathy for one another. Why you ask? Well, simply because today everyone seems to think that they should photograph or film everyone else’ misfortune. “But Chad, you ran a photo of Bret’s junk all torn up? Aren’t you doing the same thing?” you say. Well, yes and no. See Bret has signed up for a being a public figure. And he also signed up to be one of my friends years and years ago. So it was only with a complete understanding that he was not heart broken, and that he approved of us using the photo, that we used it. What I’m talking about is different.

At every event that something like this happens, people clamor over to get close to the accident, and start clicking photos like madmen with their phones. I always ask people to be considerate of the folks involved, who are typically regular working stiffs who are out having fun with their cars, and remember that if it was their son, daughter, wife or husband in this situation, the last thing they would want is people taking photos and being insensitive. On one occasion, after making said speech, some dumb bitch actually tried to hide behind her husband while shooting video with her phone over his shoulder. She sucked. Out loud. And I told her so. She didn’t appreciate it. Which is the only thing that made me actually enjoy the circumstance.

Since I’m such a shy and soft spoken individual, I have gotten more and more vocal with my disapproval of these kind of people each time one of these incidents happens. At the most recent, I told people to stop, and when I got no response or reaction, actually told them that nobody would like them if they were the assholes that put photos up on Facebook or Twitter of this poor bastard and his bashed up car. Yes, I really said assholes.

The response? Applause from all the people that weren’t douchebags taking photos. So to all those that applauded, thanks. You have restored a bit of my faith in humans. Keep it up.

EDIT FOR CLARIFICATION –

I LOVE YOU GUYS! This is exactly the response I was expecting.

I know it seems totally hypocritical for us to run crash video and photos all the time, although in a lot of cases the person knows we are going to be running them.

To take this to another depth, I was hoping that some of you would say that it depends on what happens to the guy. With regards to injuries I mean. When people start up with the photos or video, with no regard for whether the guy is injured or not, that’s what really bothers me.

In fact, we never run something if we don’t know that the guy walked away or that his injuries weren’t severe.