give it a rest

Senator Ted Kennedy passed away. When a public figure dies, it's a struggle for people- do you ignore their faults, their frailties, their mistakes? Or do you continue to hold them accountable for all actions, positive or negative? It was a major topic of discussion after Michael Jackson passed away as well.

Sometimes people get leeway depending on their cause of death. When someone is murdered, or dies young, or in some kind of awful accident, we are more likely to overlook their problems. That halo effect for a victim is always a touchy subject if a criminal case is involved. You don't want to say anyone deserves to die, but sometimes their actions haven't kept them as safe as they could have been.

John Mayer tweeted something insightful in the wake of Michael Jackson's passing. I can't find the exact wording (maybe he deleted it?), but it said that the memorial gave Michael Jackson the one thing life hadn't been able to- it made him a human being. From the time he was a child, he was a product. In death, he can finally be human.

There is a reason that we say rest in peace. Because it's just that- rest. Whether it's a saint or worst of sinners, once we're gone, it's over. There is no good to be had from discussing the faults. None of us is infallible. Let them rest with only our good thoughts to bid them goodbye.

There was some great artwork at the sandwich place near my apartment, and I've seen it elsewhere, in various wordings. It is:

I'm not sure how it will all turn out.
All I know is that in the end, I'll be dead.
So what can go wrong?

Sure, it's morbid (especially for a deli). But the only difference between comedy and tragedy is your point of view. When you ask yourself, what's the worst that can happen?, it's probably not all that bad. As Lewis Black pointed out, 5 out of 5 people are going to die. So live it up.

And then let it rest.