‘Too many teary-eyed folks at cop’s funeral just wanted to be on TV’

Agreed. These spectacles are like “cutting” — self-indulgent, voluntary pain that produces endorphins.

Michael Coren writes:

So forgive my skepticism when I argue that Toronto, just like any other city or town in this country, is not compassionate at all, but likes nothing more than soaking itself in the comforting waters of official mourning. Morbid and often misplaced grief has become the ersatz religion of modern times. Not just in Canada, but throughout North America and Europe. The western world has caught neurosis.

We witnessed this when the self-indulgent Princess Diana died, see it when a child is abducted and murdered. The teddy bears, enormous cards and kids dragged by their parents to crime scenes are as plentiful as confetti at a wedding, and just as trivial.

They wanted to be part of a happening, with a fair chance they would appear somewhere on a 24-hour TV news station and they could tell their friends and neighbours how caring and involved they are. This is vicarious thrill-seeking, feeling soft and cosy inside because it’s not happening to you, but you can pretend to feel the pain.