People these days sure think a lot of strange things are "funny."

We have Ann Coulter mocking the 9/11 widows, and her fans think she's "funny." The radio colleague of Glenn Beck imitates the Southern accent of a man whose house has burned to the ground, mocking him for having neglected to pay a $75 fee to his local fire department. A 16-year-old Bosnian girl, whose family immigrated to Ohio for a better life, commits suicide because she can't bear being bullied in school any longer -- and the bullies who tormented her in life show up at her funeral, walk up to her open casket and, in full view of the grieving family, laugh openly. It's all so "funny."

And now we have this woman in Michigan who thought it was hilarious to mock not only a critically ill 7-year-old, but also the child's mother who recently died of the same illness.

These days, basic human decency seems to be a thing forgotten when everybody is fair game and people's personal tragedies are "funny."

Some people can't seem to differentiate between the hilariously awful stuff we all laugh at on South Park or other teevee shows and movies – and the truly awful stuff that happens to real people in the real world. Maybe some people just can't tell the difference between reality and fantasy.

Yes, the story we are discussing here is nothing more than a neighborhood feud that escalated. Who cares, right? Switch the channel to South Park.

But maybe bringing this story and others like it to public attention serves a purpose. It gives us a chance to stand up and affirm that it's not "funny" for adults to pick on children in order to "burn the ass raw" (Petkov's expression) of neighbors they don't like. It's not "funny" to mock a man who has suffered the devastating loss of his home to fire, even if the mocking is being done by a man making funny voices on a radio show. And it sure as hell isn't "funny" to go to some poor kid's funeral and laugh it up with your friends.

Maybe if enough decent people keep publically saying that stuff like this isn't "cool," then maybe the people who need to "get it" will finally get it. It seems that it finally got through to Jennifer Petkov.

-- Nephele

This could have been avoided if the dumb bitch would've gotten over her kids not being able to go to the party. They're kids. There will be other parties.

To me, she looks like the stereotypical blonde bitch that's used to getting her way. If things don't go her way, she throws a tantrum and basically makes other peoples' lives hell, just to satisfy her sadistic, vindictive pleasures.

I bet she wouldn't be so quick to laugh if it was her kid dying of Huntington's disease.
Honestly, why not try to make the kid's life a little easier? Maybe apologize and mean it...for a start. Not just apologize that Karma was a bigger bitch than you were, but that you are truly sorry about what has happened. Granted it won't change anything.....

I don't think you're wrong Minnie. I've been sitting here thinking there had to be more to the story than that. Its not looking good however. I personally don't feel strongly enough to say something very passionately about Jennifer Petkov (I also wonder if what is essentially a neighbourhood feud is really news-worthy), but I can't pretend that its not big deal that for whatever reason, she got pissed off and decided mocking a dead woman and her dying daughter was an acceptable way of getting back at the people who may or may not have wronged her. But I do think its intriguing that we're beginning to hear other parts of the story now- such as her husband (who certainly did look somewhat bewildered in that video) saying that people had said things about his wife, and all of this was retaliation to that. I am wondering quite how innocent the innocent party are. But even so...if it had been me who had been, for some reason, singled out by a neighbourhood, my way of getting back at them wouldn't be by mocking a sick mother and daughter. (It would probably by being a delightful although eccentric neighbour who nobody could justify hating because I'd be so gosh-darn nice!).

I do think Nephele has a point too, though. If nothing else, this whole incident has shown that really, this whole "everything is fair game for a joke" attitude has gone far. I'm all up for a naughty and even slightly controversial joke, but I can't even see the humour in what Jennifer Petkov has done. The only thing I can think of is either she is the cruel heartless bitch that her neighbours claim her to be (but then again, if she was so apathetic, would she have cared about the things they may have said about her?) or she has gotten so wound up and pissed off over something her neighbours did to her, she got the very frustrated state where somehow, poking fun at some of the unfortunates who had pissed her off made her feel a bit better about herself. That's not right of course, but I'm sure we've all had moments where we've said things or thought things about people that were really nasty, because we were so upset and wronged. If that was the case than she needs to just swallow her pride and apologise. Either way, poking fun at a terminally ill child is just not on.

Though I see the point being made, and I might have been harsh in my assessment of Petkov, I still think what she did- despite her reasons for it- are thoroughly reprehensible.

At any point she could have stopped and said to herself "I should be the bigger woman and end this in a rational manner than shows just how intelligent and mature I am." Instead she decided to do the childish thing and make a fool of herself and hurt a little girl. Those pictures on her facebook did not get their by themselves. She had to sit down, take the time ti photoshop them, and put them on her facebook page. At any point she could have stop and asked herself "Is this really the right and mature thing to do? How will this be viewed if it gets out? Will it cause the child a lot of harm?" But she didn't think, or if she did, she ignored it against her better judgement.

Also the fued had been going on for quite sometime, so while I understand that everyone has a breaking point- this was not some isolated incident (on her side or even the other) where it was spurred from the moment. It had put malicious cruelty into what she did that took both time and effort, depending on her ability to play with pictures.

Basically, even if she was wronged by the family and even the neighborhood (and she probably was) that is no excuse to act worse than your attackers and torment a sick child, or her family with the knowledge that she's going to die.

I just decided to highlight that particular paragraph. You're very, very right

First of all, let me make three things clear. One, while I do like a joke and sometimes a person or situation just begs to be poked fun at, I do think Nephele has a point. You can go to far, and you should know when not to makes jokes. Two, the pictures Jennifer Petkov made, are not funny, but rather tasteless and inappropriate. And sharing them online was an extremely stupid, narrow-minded, vindiciative idea. Three, no adult, or even teenager, should take a out his anger at the seven-year-old in such a way, especially not to get back at the parents.

However, the report left me wondering about a lot of things. Why did Petkov get back in such a way? Is the child really dying (as she didn't appear that sick)? Is the Petkov family really as stupid as they are portrayed, or are they being demonised by the media? Has the other family taken out their anger/grief about the illness of mother and daughter - if both have/had juvinile Huntington's Disease, it's hard to underestimate their suffering and that of the other family members - and the death of the mother on the Petkovs?

I think everyone will say, or post, things that you - in hindsight - wish you hadn't. Usually in the heat of the moment, and to adults (as most of us will think a little bit harder about the way we talk to children). And, perhaps most importantly, we're able to deal with the situation in a mature way. But you'd think that making the images Jennifer Petkov made takes time, that it therefore wasn't a heat of the moment thing, and her reaction to the situation when confronted wasn't really mature. So, I'm not sure whether the mishaps we all make in social interaction can really be compared to what happened here. Although, I'm the first to admit that I have made, and probably will make again, mistakes.

There have been a lot of really interesting points raised on this issue.

Blackie, I have to confess that when you posted this morning, I'd just been writing my previous post (at work!!) and didn't have the opportunity to incorporate a reaction to what you've said. Yes, I think you're quite right in condemning Jennifer Petkov's actions, and as more becomes clear, I agree that they were despicable. I don't seek to justify the actions themselves.

Nephele, you're right, of course, about decency. However, do we know whether Rebecca Rose or the Edwards had been behaving with "decency" toward the Petkovs prior to this point? To be frank, I find this, from Kathleen's father, to be just a little disingenuous:
Sounds to me like he's enjoying the "backfiring" far too much to genuinely be aggrieved by the situation; if there weren't any bragging rights involved, he'd just want to get the hell away from the situation as quickly as possible.

In the end, there's scarcely a shred of decency to be found anywhere in the whole story. Jennifer Petkov has behaved badly, but evidently after 2 years of dispute which implies that they've received as good from the Edwards as they've given to them. The media have acted like vultures, blowing the matter out of all proportion, resulting in the Petkovs receiving death threats and being faced with job loss, while they move on to find the next sleazy story with no mud sticking to their sta-prest clothes. To paraphrase Ron Savage of Fox News, "Isn't that sick?" And those issuing the death threats and vandalising the Petkovs' home? Come on... Is it Michigan, or Iran?

On the other hand, I am touched by the kindness and generosity of the toy store owner who has taken the time and effort to try and turn it into a positive for Kathleen. That is genuine decency in a mass display of reprehensible behaviour.

Just a couple of comments: Petkov told the little girl to her face: "I can't wait until you die". In my opinion, nothing excuses this. And, apparently this is not the first time that Petkov has harassed people with a dying family member. Hmmm.....

You want to know something? Call me mean or evil if you please... But if a grown woman had targeted and tormented a child of mine like that, basically laughing at her illness and encouraging her death...

I would ABSOLUTELY enjoy seeing such cruelty backfire on such a person. Mind you, I wouldn't want to see that person receiving death threats -- and from what I can tell, neither did Robert Edward. But a humbling experience for the previously arrogant can help to give closure to the aggrieved.

Jennifer Petkov needed to discover that Karma is a bigger bitch than she is.

-- Nephele

Ayuh, personally, I think the Edwards family behaved with remarkable patience. If I had a dying daughter and someone did this, I'd be in jail right now.....and in much better shape than the perp.

For me, it doesn't even matter if the child is bying or not. A grown woman was 'bullying' a young child because grown-up do not know how to express themselves in healthy ways. That in itself is horrible.

Oh, I also forgot to mention earlier, while I (as I said) I agree with Nephele's point that the story being reported on being possibly a good thing, it does make me wonder if they were just having a slow news day when they decided to report on it <.< I mean, there are bigger things going on...the Chilean miners being freed, Marines accidentally killing a Taliban hostage, the Commonwealth games etc...and they go for a small suburban feud ^^;; a bit odd...

(Mind you, in the UK a few weeks back, the bitch who dumped a cat in a wheelie bin for a laugh got a lot of coverage too.)

Has anyone thought to ask the child's view on this? In all the posts I've read, be it from the news, or from the GNet members, not ONE have had the views of that little girl, her reactions, or her side of the story.
However, I wouldn't be suprised if she had told her family what happened and THEY blew it out of proportion.
It happens quite a bit, especially with victims of childhood sexual abuse.

There had to be a way that both families could sit down and talk about what had happened.

I'm not saying one side is right and the other wrong, because they BOTH acted like children in a "he started it/she started it" game.

Oh gawds, no. I hope everybody, including Fox News, leaves that little girl ALONE. Reporter: "So, tell us sweetie, how did it make you feel when your neighbor laughed about your mother's death and then told you to DIE?"



I guess I must have missed something. Could you be a bit more specific regarding whatever it was that the little girl's family did to Jennifer Petkov? The worst I could find was that they didn't invite Petkov's children over to their party. Maybe that was mean -- or maybe they'd had previous experience with that family and just felt it was best to distance themselves as much as possible.

Sorry folks, but all this defending of Jennifer Petkov and speculating on how this grown woman must have been "driven" to bully a 7-year-old child is just... nuts.

-- Nephele

Ok, maybe I should have been clearer. I wasn't defending her. I don't agree at all with her actions.
What I was saying is that she shouldve gotten over her kids not going to a party. (see my previous post). NOTHING gives ANYONE a right to say such things, or act in the way she did.