Batman said:
they feel guilty for laughing at Chris and especially for speculating that 14BC may one day go up in smoke and kill all the inhabitants within. Mr Jeff Goldblum himself speculated not a few days before the incident how a devastating fire would probably get started at 14BC and his comments ended up being eerily prophetic. So they donate to make themselves feel better. Given that we have a few religious types donating here, such an assumption is not unreasonable.
I know it is not your intent to single me out with this post, it is an example and I get that, but I do want to point out that I did not contribute to the fund out of troll's remorse or anything of the sort just because I contributed a lengthy hypothesis to the then-inevitable fire. Yes, I did feel a bit strangely knowing that literally 14 hours before the fire I made
a post where I suggested the combination of faulty wiring and a small appliance would result in such an event. Many people who contributed to that thread at that time shared similar feelings.
I also did not donate for the sake of seeing my name in lights or to "get" anything in return, notoriety, content, or otherwise. I am a nobody in the grand scope of things here; I'm here to continue spectating just as I've done for a very long time; I've lurked ED and the CWCki under many names. I feel a bit antsy that my name is in the OP of the thread, since when I donated via PayPal I said "this is JeffGoldblumIRL, but I'd like to be credited as Anonymous". At the time, I would have been the only anonymous contribution on the list (and second highest only to the $50 donation). Null had a lot going on and stopped at the username in my message, I'm okay with that and I didn't want to make a scene so I let it run its course. I don't demonstrate charity for the photo op that comes with it.
The real reason I donated is because I was very recently in Chris' new position. I was once homeless; I alluded to this in a previous post. For 14 months I did not have a permanent place to call home, but I got something that 99.9% of the people in my position never, ever get: a break. I never gave up, I landed a job interview with a very respectable company after using what little funds I had to buy textbooks from the used bookstore and borrowed some nice clothes from a friend. I fought my way to a good job and now I have a place to live and I have food in my pantry. I am still swamped with debts and bills accrued from my transience, but I still wanted to contribute to Chris' fund because when I was at my worst and I didn't have a place to live there weren't that many people I could turn to for help. I wanted Chris to know that when it feels like the whole fucking world has turned its back on you that there is STILL some good out there and it's never worth it to give up or admit defeat.
Yeah, it's Christian "mmmyeah I'll think about it *inaction*" Chandler. If he and Barb turn over a new leaf then I'd be really happy for the two of them. If he instead blows the $40 on vidya and junk food then at least in some form my contribution was able to give him some form of fleeting happiness. I want him to find comfort in whichever way he feels suitable.
(I apologize for the tl;dr and for breaking my pseudo-character here.)