Friday, December 10, 2010

At Least he didn't have a Cellphone

Finals week is really bogging me down, so I'm afraid the updates are going to be somewhat smaller for the next little while, but this was an issue that no-one is kicking up a fuss about, and I can't waste a good tantrum.

There was, a few Edmontonians may have noticed, a piece in the paper about a nut-bar in a Honda screaming down Jasper Ave at speeds some witnesses have estimated at 140 km/h. Unless Jasper Ave has become the autobahn since I was there last, this is decidedly over the limit. After he was wrenched out of the twisted wreckage of his car by the jaws of life and taken to the hospital, he has now been charged with dangerous driving, cruelty to an animal (there was a dog in the car which was killed) and breach of recognizance.
I stopped at this; I have no idea what that means, so I Googled it. Turns out it means 'breach of bail conditions', and I found my interest picking up; What had this gentleman been arrested for that they let him out to recreate burnout with downtown Edmonton?

If this Garth Schuck is the right Garth Schuck, he was previously a member of the Canadian Forces, and was charged with trafficking (snore, right?) but also, here's the fun part, with "administering a noxious thing" (I desperately want to see those court charges. If the phrase "thing one and thing two" come up, I'd just die laughing.) He was at a Tim Horton's and offered to buy a couple of ladies some coffee, then they got sick. Reports don't seem to indicate the exact nature of the noxious thing, but how messed up do you have to be to do something like this? I have a psychology degree so take my word that the answer is "pretty-darn". I just have no idea what was going through the judge's head when he took at look at the charges, the fact that the man willfully sought to harm another person, in the guise of kindness, and said, "Sure, go on home, just don't stay out too late." If he is let out on bail a second time after speeding down the road at over-lethal speeds while not even on drugs or alcohol, I think we should protest. This man has demonstrated that he is willing to injure people both passively and actively; if anyone should be locked up, it's him.


Anyway, on a humorous note, there has been a lot of joking on the Internet lately aimed at people who check the shower curtain when they go into the bathroom, asking what they would do if they did find a murderer there, and my answer is that I plan to die with dignity instead of dying while pooping with my pants around my ankles. 

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yo so i heard about this and had a good laugh... then i find out that he died yesterday the 23 of may 2011 so yeah looks like karma is real :)...

Anonymous said...

He didn't just 'die', he commited suicide. Just clearing that up.

Anonymous said...

You know your a kind hearted person when u say u laugh cuz he died ... He was a good person with an Illness no one took seriously and the sad part of it all was he took his own life because of how un happy he was now if u think that's funny your really a sad twisted person. Thanks

Anonymous said...

I knew this young man as a high school student and I was shocked by his decent into mental illness and a world of pain that he was alone in. He was a decent young man who tried to make friends with a lot of people and teachers. I am really saddened to hear of his passing.

Anonymous said...

I am a Minister and I had the privilege of pastoring Garth when he was a teenager. He was a kind young man with deep convictions. My wife, my sons and I are deeply saddened by Garth's death. Life takes many turns from which none of us is immune. The events of his life are unfortunate. Many may judge but those who knew him best understand and Psalm 139 suggests that God knew him best and therefore I turn this matter over to Him. Mental illness is too often cruely judged, ignored and untreated. It is as real as cancer and diabetes. I trust that God, who once began a good work in Garth, is faithful to complete it. (Philippians 1:6)

K. Gilmer said...

When I was growing up in North Grenville, Garth was always around. He was a few years older than me and always hung around with the same people as my sister. Garth was a very nice guy, he may have lacked social skills, but he tried his best to make friends, make people smile, and be a good friend. People pushed him away, made fun of him, and killed him inside. I didn't spend much time with Garth, but my heart goes out to his friends and family. I can't say that I blame him for what he's done. People hardly ever treated him like a human being even though he tried so hard. Rest in Peace Garth, some people actually see your death as a tragedy. xx

A. Lee said...

I grew up and went to school with Garth and was very shocked to hear what happened. He may have changed throughout the years but he will still be the same to me and it saddens me to see what vile things people can write about someone they don't know anything about.

-Before you write a blog post making fun of someone for acting like a fool, think about the times you may have been in a really rough situation and remember that some people just don't know how to handle it the same as others.

RIP Garth

Miss Ernst said...

Hey there, A. Lee, are you suggesting that no-one should ever judge another's actions because it may hurt their feelings, even if that action is incredibly dangerous to themselves and others?

I apologize for referring to him as a "nut-bar", but if you would like somewhere to vent your anger at, try the military who abandoned him after using him up, or the justice system that failed to recognize his actions as the cry for help that they were, rather than at a blogger who wrote about the inadequacies in a system designed to protect us and him. I wonder if he was let out on bail or in custody when he took his own life; I am not sure which would be worse.

My condolances to those bereaved.

Anonymous said...

Jackie... if it was a suicide attempt, he's a selfish douche bag for bringing a dog with him. It takes much more hard work and courage to get help....

Will said...

just to clear this up. he had mental illness which he was battling at the time of the accident. another thing, you cant just paintthis story black and white. if you knew the whole story instead of what you saw in the news you may see it differently. for instance. you may think people with addictions are weak willed and depending on the addiction, a waste of skin. some times this is true. but other times there is something going on with the person that drives them to certain things. young women with daddy issues becoming sex addicts for instance. kids with disfunctional families becoming drunks and drug addicts... Garth was an amazing person with some problems. but through all this he still managed to touch so many people and help them.. as for the guy posting at 4:46am, may 24, 2011. learn to show a little sympathy.

Anonymous said...

I was really disappointed when I found this on the internet. I was a neighbour of Garth's for a few years and went to school with him. Many did not know the real Garth because he just wanted to fit in, like so many of us do. He wanted acceptance, love and wanted to be someone. Yes, the choices that were made, were bad, and out of character. I'm not justifying what happened, but for the person who wrote this blog, and the people who laugh at his "karma", I'm amazed that you would even consider writing about someone you don't even know. People make mistakes, and some are more severe than others. People have illnesses that they cannot escape. People, like Garth, was not a someone who deserved to die; to take his own life. Karma, does not mean that because you make bad choices out of illness, that you should serve to take your own life. It's horrible that you people who have written such harsh things about a person you don't even know, have posted this over the internet for people, for friends, for family to read. Shame on you for doing so. If you feel this way, keep it to yourself. Garth did not deserve to feel like he needed to take his own life. For all of you who have written about Garth because you knew him, lets keep our thoughts and prayers to his family and friends. Lets keep remembering Garth as we all knew him.

Anonymous said...

I knew Garth. Sad he's dead. I'm glad he's at least not in pain any longer.

While the blog post might be construed at harsh, I think it's important to recognize the fact that there will always be two points of view on this: objective and subjective. The facts were that Garth was becoming more and more of a threat to others. I was disgusted that he was let out back on to the streets after that crash. I believe they should have locked him in a hospital. That's me being objective.

Those close to him don't see that. They see a hurting young man who was kind at heart and just had some issues he couldn't deal with. Garth was a pretty cool guy, friendly as heck! Before he started destabilizing, he was a great guy to chill with. That's me being subjective.

Most of the comments I see are being becoming upset that the other party is being either subjective or objective. I think that both views need to be there. While it's sad Garth is gone, those on the outside need to be there to start saying "enough is enough". I mean, when I heard of that crash, I was enraged. What if he hit my mother? I would have lost someone for no reason.

My take on this whole thing is that he was a sick kid. I'm sorry he's gone and that he didn't get the help he needed. But please try to understand that he was starting to bring other people down with him. By crashing into cars, by drugging them. It was only a matter of time until others got hurt.

RIP Garth!

Superdan said...

As the friend who he called all the way across the country just to have someone to vent to i can attest that we was trying to get the help he needed. When the military said they would help they discharged him and then refused to help him after the Councillors there promised he would be helped. apparently by being released early he was no longer eligible for benefits.

He was a good guy and he wanted the best for everyone around himself but sometimes its to hard to force help on someone when it should happen. I also know for a fact that he was using a large amount of marijuana to self medicate, i truly feel this led to his mind becoming even more warped.

slowly watching a friend go through this is a horrible thing to witness especially when you find out all of a sudden your friend who was like a brother is no longer there.

I don't condone any of his actions but i don't think 'karma' had anything to do with this, 'karma' will see that the one who laughs over his death will see themselves watching someone they know go through this, i only hope you don't see a friend die

Anonymous said...

He was someones child!!! how sad and tragic. maybe he made bad choices but come one people. how cruel can you be

Anastasia said...

Garth was a neighbour of mine and over the years we became good friends and more than that even for some time but I could tell he had some things to work out. By the way, he loved dogs and he would never ever intentionally hurt his dog.
We used to go for long walks together and he always brought his dog with us whenever he could. He hasn't been himself lately, and I wish I had time to really listen and be there for him the last time he called and needed to talk, I had so many things going on that I just couldn't handle it. I'm sorry Garth. I love you and I'm so sorry for everything and any hurt that I may have caused you. I hope you're in a better place now.

R.A.Whittaker said...

I wont try and hide behind anonymous he was one of my best friends in high school, he did my intro speech when I ran for school president, he had his family take me in when I stood up to my abusive father and he kicked me out, he stood by me when I had mental break down because of previous abuse. He was a great guy, I'll miss him, I'll miss the times we shared in high school, I dont know what happened to him after high school and I'm sad that the CF abandonded him as so the CF has abandonded so many. I wish some people would understand, he didnt really wanna hurt other people just himself and that he was loved and will be missed by people who truly did know him. I'm sorry I wasnt there in his moments of need. I hope God and others will forgive me.

Anonymous said...

I am so sorry to the Schuck family for their loss, I know that his parents loved him very much and that he came from a good family. I couldn't imagine the hell he was going through in his mind and I wish people would keep their rude comments to themselves. He was a cute and caring kid in highschool and would never intentionally hurt and animal, that is just absurd. Very sad that this had to happen and I am sorry again to his family, and his brother and sister as well....RIP Garth

Anonymous said...

I don't know how people can go on about how wonderful he was. He was selfish, taking his own life and before he did, he tried to hurt others.

What were his intentions when he drugged those girls? I'm sure he wasn't caring anyone but himself then.

The dog he threw in the car to go speeding down the road towards other people and families? That seems caring...

I know a ton on families that are super screwed up and lots of people (males and females) that have been abuse in every way and they are nothing like this kid.

I'm not going to waste more time on this guy, you get my point. schMuck

Anonymous said...

I'm quite surprized his story made it's way to someone's blog... lol. Pretty much, screw everyone that takes mental illness with a grain of salt. It's there, it's in your face, it's ugly, it's sour and it affects everyone!
He did me more wrong then anyone ever has...but he also gave me the best little girl ever.
No matter the circumstances, when it comes to someone's death, empathy is key.
There's a lot they leave behind.