There’s a fine line between asking for charity and demanding it. Between emotional blackmail and outright extortion. And, sadly, because one father didn’t see that line, a baby is suffering.
Grief and terror make us do strange things. In this case, a father terrified of losing his newborn son crossed ethical boundaries, and was slapped down. I don’t blame Microsoft for taking down his web page, and I have trouble mustering too much outrage at the guy whose complaint led to that action. I think he should have just quietly ignored the plea instead of writing a refusal, but Mr. Guglielmo’s assembling and publishing a list of “non-supporters” — complete with personal information on how to contact those who had declined to help him — was completely and utterly unacceptable.
Mr. Guglielmo’s new site, where he’s once again looking for possible bone-marrow donors for his five-month-old son, doesn’t include the “enemies list” that got his old site pulled. Here’s hoping his son will get the match he needs — and, not quite as importantly, his father learned a lesson.
(Link fixed. Thanks, Tom Blogical.)
