Liars, Thugs and Bullies
Chris Chulamanis died last Thursday. Most folks reading this will never have known him. I didn’t know him well. We conversed – via phone a couple times, email mostly – sporadically over almost ten years, whenever he had a new product or when something caught his fancy. He was into Disney’s Nautilus, astronauts and Colonial Marines from Aliens. He was a gifted and prolific model maker, and had made and sold a wide range of products that fit in with his passions. I have nearly all his 35th scale astronaut figures, for instance, plus a bunch of his 1/6th scale CM weapons and equipment and they are really gems. Flawless casting, crisp detail, good poses on the figures. They build up into contest winners – and I have the trophies to prove that.
Moreover, he was one of those guys who really cared about his reputation, and would walk the extra mile – or three – to make sure his customers were happy. You could call or email and he would always be there, always have an answer or suggestion, or just plain encouragement. The people who knew him better than I did are uniform in their praise: he was a good guy, a good friend, passionate, inquisitive and caring. As one wrote: “He was a remarkably giving person and the world just can’t help being a shade darker without him.”
I’ve been thinking about it an awful lot since I learned of his passing …. because guys like Chris seem to be increasingly hard to find in these days, when civility is derided as weakness and belligerence and a thin skin are the highest aspirations of far, far too many people. When boorish and bigoted behavior is lauded as striking a blow against “political correctness”. When people who would never, ever dare confront you to your face can make the most damaging, most damning accusations against you in a forum where they know you won’t see it, or know you won’t respond – all the while hiding behind an alias.
There really are no consequences for slander, for defamation, for thuggery, theft or bullying on the internet. It’s the one place you can flat out lie about someone else and there are no sanctions, no demands for proof. No one will challenge you to provide documentation, no one will factor your biases or your history against your claims — automatically, what you say is assumed true just because you say it. And if you are challenged, you can just claim to be a victim of the supporters of whomever you are trashing.
Don’t believe me? You don’t have to look very far, or very hard, for supporting evidence. Shoot, just read through the comments after each news story on AOL, or visit any of the multitude of websites that cater to the defiantly “politically incorrect”.
Here’s the thing: if something you say could get your ass kicked in meatspace it’s not “politically incorrect”. And you’re seven kinds of coward for typing it online behind an alias. Anyone can be a jerk. That’s easy. Lord knows I’ve been one myself more often than I care to admit.
It takes true strength of character to be a Man. Chris Chulamanis was a Man. A good, decent, respected man, a giant amongst pygmies. The world without him just doesn’t shine as bright.
Goodbye, sir. I hope to see ya on the flip side.
