Bob's Angry Rants

So, as we all knew would happen, people are stealing pieces of the space shuttle Columbia. Why would you want a piece of the shuttle anyway? I could maybe understand the family and close friends of the astronauts wanted a piece of the shuttle to have as a kind of memorial. But most people who are stealing pieces of the shuttle have no personal connection to the disaster.

Some say that they want to have "a piece of history." But somehow I suspect that many people who make this sort of claim have no interest in history at all. I am afraid that most of these people may just want to have a piece of something that they saw on TV.

It has been suggested that some people feel that whatever small bit of shuttle that they stole would not be useful in NASA's investigation. Unless you are an expert Space Shuttle Accident Reconstructionist, however, I don't know how an individual could figure out what piece would be important to the investigation and what would not.

I don't even really understand what you would do with such a piece of the shuttle, anyway. I mean, you can't put it out for display. Or, at least, I couldn't put it out for display. I would be ashamed every time someone came over and saw it. You can't sell it, really. My understanding is that the Feds are cracking down hard on people who are trying to profit off this disaster. So, I guess that you could keep it in the basement and not tell anyone about it. But then, what is the point. Why not just do the right thing and turn it over to the authorities?

What worries me worst is that some people might not even think that taking a piece of the shuttle is wrong. Well, why the hell not? It IS wrong and it IS stealing. On the other hand, I also get upset when people take plant material or rocks out of National Parks and nobody else seems to give a shit about that either. Sometimes it seems like my lot in life is to care about things that most people never even think about. Bastards.