How quick can your life change? Imagine being
New York bus monitor Karen Klein. You go from being verbally abused by teenage boys on a Monday to having more than half a million dollars on Friday. By now you have probably heard of Karen Klein and the
viral video and viral campaign that has lead to some major changes in peoples lives.
The video (
which contains extreme language) is tough to watch. Imagine watching several "Tween" boys verbally abuse your grandmother to tears and you can't do anything about it. After the video of the awful act was posted to YouTube, millions of people saw this and reacted in the same way; speechless.
One viewer saw this and decided to act. Using social fundraising site indiegogo, Max Sidirov started a campaign to send Karen on "a vacation of a lifetime" with an initial goal of $5,000. Breaking that goal within hours, the campaign is now up to over $650,000, as of the writing of this article.
This ordeal has lead to a few realizations about internet usage and the social or viral age we live in. The initial focus is on how some people find it reasonable to not only act like this and treat another human this way, but post it online for others to see and "like." However, just days later that same "viral" attitude helped raise money for this poor woman. Clearly the money will help her, but more importantly, each $5 or more pledged was equivalent to a hand being raised, saying "I am against bullying." That is what I have chose to take away from this amazing story. What have you taken away from the entire story?