I saw the first twitter post come through that said: “6 year old boy alone in a hot air balloon. Pray now.” I immediately went to news sites and found the story, and clicked on the live feed from a local Denver area television station. I was glued to the TV, took the bait hook line and sinker and began praying. I re-tweeted the post. I also then went on Posterous and re-posted it there so it hooked up to my blogs and my Facebook page.
As I watched as the hot air contraption came down from the sky I read twitter posts that were titled #balloonboy and was appalled to see some of the horrific things people were writing. They were nasty jokes, innuendoes, and downright obnoxious viewpoints.
On Facebook I posted “How can people make fun of the little boy who may or may not have been in a home made balloon craft? I just don't get the callous attitude.” This posting began a back and forth conversation and Michigan Photographer Staci Cossolini Niedzwiecki summed it up best, “I will say I LOVE social networking - but there is a darker side that is brought out in folks by the anonymity of it all. It's our job to not accept such garbage and turn it around!”
The end of the story of 6 year old Falcon has yet to be told. Whether it was or was not a hoax is not the point of this writing. This writing is to remind us all to “turn it around” - turn around the snide postings, the ill-humor remarks. It’s OK to tell someone you don’t appreciate their tone or tenor of a post.
Technology has made it so easy for us to write something in the heat of the moment. Yet just like a home-made hot air balloon, what we put up will eventually fall down - and land at our feet. Will we be happy with what lands there? Will we be proud of how we reacted, what we posted, how we made others feel?
Let’s take the phrase “Balloons or Bust” and turn it into our mantra for busting the cycle of the mean-spirited attitudes. “Balloons or Bust... It’s Up To Us!” The more we succeed, the higher we all fly!
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