Plaidman

[ZedOmega]

That... I don't have any words. About the only thing I can do is pray for his family to make it through this situation.

[aurelemsrealm]

I just want to extend my sympathies to Plaidman and his family. I didn't know him personally, but had read a number of his posts. I often sensed that he dealt with a lot of pain and sadness in his life. I even thought about sending him a message a few times, but wasn't sure how he'd receive it. Hopefully, he's in a better place now.

[Jester]

I don't see the distaste in wanting to know more details.

I've commented on this in the CS thread, and I'll repeat my thoughts on it here. Which are basically that, for me at least, it's easier to exorcise a demon if it's just one known demon rather than a multitude of unknown demons. In other words, once I knew the details about Plaid, it was easier for me to deal with, as horrible as the truth was, than it would have been if I had been left in the dark to wonder what might have happened. It gave me something more solid to focus on so that I could get through this. Not everyone is wired like that, but apparently quite a few of us are.

Not everyone will understand this morbid curiousity, either, but it exists in a good percentage of people. And there is the flip side of the coin as well, where some people would rather remain blissfully unaware of the exact details. Different people cope in different ways.

[Ree]

He's gone.

Knowing how it happened won't bring him back.

He's gone.

Knowing how he did it doesn't make the pain any less. In fact, all it did for me was provide a mental image that I can't get out of my head.

Poor, sweet boy. His pain must have been hell.

I fail to see how satisfying morbid curiosity provides any more closure.

The CS thread was pretty much a way for people to provide support to each other on the loss of a friend, and to share memories of Plaid.

Raps started off by asking for no speculation out of respect, and, true to form, as always, one or two of our CS "customers" immediately started asking "why can't we?"

Frankly, I think it is distasteful and disrespectul to ask, "How did he do it?"

Anyone who was close to Plaid, and not just an acquaintance on a message board, did not need to be reminded of how he passed.

His family was being directed to the thread to see the outpouring of love for their son and brother.

Did they really need to see people satisfying their morbid curiosity discussing how he died, and then whining because the stuffy control freak mods wouldn't let them post about how he died and discuss it?

If you were that damned curious and in need of personal closure, use your Google search and satisfy your curiosity, then shut up and keep it to yourself.

And that's my opinion, for what it's worth!

[the_std]

If you were that damned curious and in need of personal closure, use your Google search and satisfy your curiosity, then shut up and keep it to yourself.

Easy to say, but there is absolutely no definitive evidence in any of the news articles to be found online. Nothing mentions names or descriptions, so how are we supposed to know for sure? That makes things worse.

Now, while I agree that asking about it in a place that was dedicated to support is not a respectful way to do it (hence why I didn't ask there), I am one of those people who does need to know why in order to find closure, because otherwise, like Jester said, my mind is filled with hundreds of terrible what-ifs and my brain keeps spinning in its hamster wheel.

Just because we don't necessarily grieve in the same way you do doesn't mean we're not respectful or grieving in our own way. I do think that this was a more appropriate forum to ask on, as a lot fewer people read it and its very nature means that controversial topics are more encouraged. I am not trying to sully the memory of what Plaidman meant to everyone else, I am just trying find an end to what was an unexpected and painful event for everyone.

[AdminAssistant]

I ditto what the_std said. Not allowing us to discuss it only fuels more speculation, more 'what ifs.' Suicide is sadly common in that town, so there's no way to know if those news articles are talking about Plaid or someone else.

[Ree]

Then do as several others did and PM a mod to ask if there were any details that could be released privately.