Does it strike anybody as sad when CNews, the parent company of The Toronto Sun, listed the following story as Weird News?

Debbie Peliti, an unemployed mother of six, found approximately $40,000 in a clear plastic bag literally lying on the street at Kingston Blvd and McCowan Rd. According to her, she didn’t even think for a second of keeping the money, though obviously she could have used it. Instead, she followed her upbringing of honesty and respect for others, and turned the money into the local Toronto Dominion Bank, who eventually rewarded her with $2000.

Why exactly is this Weird News? Is it because there is a positive message being portrayed here, and the news media is slightly confused on how to deal with it? In these times of turmoil, with the Iraq War and Government Incompetance and really crappy television, there should be an outlet to show all the good news that occurs on a daily basis, but is generally hidden from the public because nobody can profit from it.

I have friends who are Manic Depressive, and I’ve seen an entire generation get more and more depressed every year because they feel that the world is for the most part just a great pile of crap. I feel this is largely due to just how much Bad News gets thrown at us from our televisions and newspapers and the radio. My wife won’t even watch the news because of this spin…it’s too depressing for her.

I applaud Ms. Peliti for her honesty, but am ashamed by how the media outlets have tried to work this into an entirely different feel. Instead of discussing how good her act was, and how society in general should follow her example, they do surveys on whether she should have kept the money and how chintzy the bank was to ONLY give her $2000. Last survey I heard had 2/3’s keeping the cash. I changed the channel.

I mean, c’mon…it makes you want to throw up your hands, give up on society and move into a luddite commune.