How Soon the Worm Turns

I was walking by one of the televisions in the office yesterday afternoon which is always tuned to a news network when I saw what looked like a UFO streaking across the skies. The sound was turned down but I could read the captions on the bottom and realized that this wasn't a UFO but a balloon that was on the loose. I couldn't figure out why that was being covered by CNN until the caption came up explaining that there was a 6-year-old child trapped in the balloon. As we stood watching it, I voiced the suspicion that perhaps the child was at home since no one had really seen 6-year-old Falcon Henne climb into the balloon and then whoosh off into the sky. What people saw was the balloon flying away and his understandably worried parents praying for his safe return to the ground.

The media was riveted to what was going on and then given the chance to cover something other than how Obama-care was going to kill all Americans or how the Dow topping 10,000 was a sign of the Apocalypse, all the networks had what they considered to be a 'heart-warming' story of peril and adventure to cover. The balloon floated across the skies for two hours and no network dared cut away for a commercial break. Why? Because if something happened during the time they were on break then most viewers would have changed the channel and that would mean lost viewership. So no network changed from their coverage of what everyone was watching. Sure it may be cruel but I know that what the media (and the public at large) was hoping to see was something dramatic. I mean why else do most people watch NASCAR for? It isn't just the racing but the spectacular crashes.

I couldn't believe how excited some reporters began to sound when they heard reports from a sherrif stating that it was a distinct possibility that the boy may have even fallen out of the balloon on the ascent to nearly 7,000 feet. So when the balloon finally came down in the middle of nowhere nearly two hours later, the media was all over the ground waiting for the passenger compartment of the balloon to be opened and the boy to be lifted out into the waiting arms of a friendly fireman or policeman. So how surprising was it when it took them nearly five minutes to hack their way into the passenger compartment and then realize that it was empty? The search then began along the path of the balloon to see if the boy had truly fallen out but I remained skeptical. If the boy had fallen out wouldn't there have been an easier time to get into the passenger compartment since he had to have fallen out of somewhere?

So I wasn't too surprised when hours later the report came out that Falcon had been found at home hiding in the attic inside of a box. According to statements given, he had released the balloon and realized that he had made a boo-boo so he went and hid because daddy would be upset. Still, the public (me included) breathed a sigh of relief once the news broke that Falcon was safe. Suddenly there was a desire to speak with the adventurous little boy even though his adventure consisted of him not wanting to get a scolding by hiding in a box. When he appeared on Wolf Blitzer's show later that evening and he was asked why he didn't come out immediately when people were looking for him, Falcon responded that he "did it for the show".

Suddenly a media storm was unleashed once again as the media realized that the family had appeared on the show "Wife Swap" two times already. Now perhaps Falcon merely meant that he saw the cameras and thought they were filming yet another episode of "Wife Swap" but now everyone is treating this 6-year-old's comments like he's part of a conspiracy by his parents to launch a media circus. Out of the woodwork come 'family friends' who have long since suspected that the Henne family did everything only for the media attention. Now everyone has gone from praying for the child and his family to cursing them for 'wasting time' and 'fooling everyone'. Why the sudden change of heart? Is it because people are upset for being fooled or because it isn't as dramatic a story as seeing a child in potential life-threatening danger? You decide.