I live in the town next to the Terri Schiavo drama. Here’s my take on it: whatever you believe, my problem with this situation is the media frenzy. In our community, we have been hearing about Terri for YEARS. It’s always been a local case (granted, with larger implications for the rest of the country) and has largely been ignored by national media. Now that things have come to a head, all of a sudden it is national news and everyone has an opinion. My question is, will everyone still be so interested once Terri has passed away? Sure, the news stories will continue for a few weeks, maybe even a few months about the after-effects. But after that, everyone will forget about her and move on to the next major news story. It’s explotative and manipulative, and I hate seeing people jump on the bandwagon. All those people that are standing outside the hospice with their signs and their cups of water, do you think they will be working to change legislation after this is over? Are they going to keep in contact with Terri’s parents once the cameras stop rolling? No, everyone will slowly drift away, back to their lives, and Terri Schiavo will become old news. It’s a shame.
The best thing to come out of this is that more people will get living wills.
