When I was a kid, it was cow tipping...

[Lobo1186]

Originally Posted by BrokenLinkage

Flipping cars may be funny, but it ain't cool.

I get what you are saying, unfortunately cool is defined by society regardless of what many think. Smoking may be cool depending on where you live. Types of Vandalism may be cool, serious crime such as murder can be cool (such as gang culture). I am sure we can all agree here that we do not think this is "cool" but let's face it we do not generally get to decide what is deemed cool in society much to the chagrin of those who understand the ramifications. It is often the least qualified to add the stigma of coolness who decides.

It made me laugh audibly. Gallows humor has always been in my personality (for better or worse) as well as an occasional streak of Schadenfreude (again for better or worse).

[Frodo]

Well, yeah, clearly “cool” and “uncool” are subjective terms, the exact meanings of which depend to a great extent upon the culture, background and upbringing of the individual making the call. They’re opinions, pure and simple, when you get right down to it. So far, vandalism and murder are found to be exceedingly uncool by the majority, a “cool” situation (IMHO) or we’d all be headin’ to hell in a hand basket in no time. If and when there comes a time that such activities are considered cool by anything even approaching a majority, I’m outta here..

I gotta admit---at the first pic of the Smart Car on its roof, my knee-jerk reaction was to chuckle. It IS sort of funny looking. That inclination (to laugh) passed quickly when I recalled my son, having discovered his car had been keyed in a parking lot, asked me how people can be so hateful. I couldn’t answer that question for him, any more than I could if the owners of these toppled Smart Cars asked me the same question. Gallows humor, in my mind, is an attempt to make light of a depressingly difficult situation---I’m all for that. It’s really kind of laudable, actually. OTOH, Schadenfreude, generally speaking, I got no time for...unless, of course, there’s karma involved.

[Lobo1186]

Originally Posted by Frodo

Gallows humor, in my mind, is an attempt to make light of a depressingly difficult situation---I’m all for that. It’s really kind of laudable, actually. OTOH, Schadenfreude, generally speaking, I got no time for...unless, of course, there’s karma involved.

I feel exactly this. As a big practitioner of gallows humor (due to my life experiences) I can tell you that while it has many good uses sometimes it is very much poor form in the eyes of society. I cannot lie that there are hints of Schadenfreude in me rarely. It is a vice, but it is hard to fight nurture.

When Karma is involved however, is it really still Schadenfreude? If so I feel a lot less guilty!

[Jamesp]

An interesting aspect of this thread is that those who find little humor in vandalism have written mature thoughtful posts regarding he effects on individuals and society, the benchmark being BrokenLinkage. Those who would make this seem like harmless humor refer to "net nannies" to spin the conversation and turn it to belittling the thoughts of others. Not too thoughtful, or nice. The last net nanny I saw was in a certain thread dealing with a firearms case modification, and I think we all know what side of the fence that nanny, and some other posters on this thread stood. I guess it takes a nanny to know a nanny. Its amazing that some folks think so little of others and much of themselves. As has already been posted, they really don't get it. I'm thinking only about 3/4s of the folks reading this post will get it. To those who don't, go look up the Golden Rule, and maybe incorporate a little of it into your life. Chances are you'll be happier as will the people around you. It's not cool, but cool isn't necessarily good. And if anybody has made it this far in this overly long post, there is such a thing as good and bad no matter what you were taught in college. And since some have not been able to figure this out for themselves, flipping other peoples cars falls squarely into "bad". It's not a harmless prank.