# WTF? Pay Up or We Let Your House Burn Down? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 6, 2010, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-pay-up-or-we-let-your-house-burn-down/556210 "2010-10-06T03:08:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 26
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2010, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-pay-up-or-we-let-your-house-burn-down/556210/501 "2010-10-17T21:20:01Z")
> [@Giraffe](#): > > > [@gonzomax](#): > > > > I am glad you enjoyed the “tards” suffering. I am glad you like the price he paid. I am glad you are at peace with his home burning down and his animals dying. Shit he got what he had coming to him. People like him deserve to suffer for not being smart enough. > > I only wish I could be as kind and enlightened as you. If only I could shake my head and whisper softly “oh that poor poor man, why does God let bad things happen to [del]good[/del] [del]innocent[/del] people who aren’t that terrible probably if you get to know them?” > > I am a bad person. ☹ That much you finally have right. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2010, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-pay-up-or-we-let-your-house-burn-down/556210/502 "2010-10-17T21:36:39Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > > [@gonzomax](#): > > > > They probably have alzheimers people, old people and retarded people. > > None of whom should be living on their own if they are unable to think clearly for themselves. Therefore they obviously don’t and all is fine. Another stupid tap dance . Lots of old people value their independence and try to stay on their own as long as possible. Some really old people have all their relatives and friends die leaving them alone. Some poor people are hanging by a thread to keep a place to live. They don’t deserve fire protection, do they? If a fat, black, old ,poor, gay person’s, house burned to the ground, I guess all would be even better.. Because think of how many ways your superiority would be fed. Cranick was different than you. Perhaps he was not as smart and he made a poor decision. But it makes you feel good to demonize him. A mans home burned down and his animals died and some of you are squirting in your depends. What perverted sense of justice do you have? How can it be right? You should be ashamed for feeling he got what is coming to him. He did not. He overpaid badly. ---
**Author:** ![MHaye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bbe5ce/32.png) [@MHaye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MHaye)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2010, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-pay-up-or-we-let-your-house-burn-down/556210/503 "2010-10-17T21:54:46Z")
> [@George\_Kaplin](#): > > > [@MHaye](#): > > > > Yes. Cranick himself has said, in another interview, that he hadn’t paid but “thought the fire service would come out anyway.” It’s linked in the OP. > > I don’t think this statement necessarily implies that Cranick _chose_ not to pay. I wouldn’t be surprised if a number of paying customers also held this misapprehension, given that fire fighting is obviously an emergency service. I do, sorry. It clearly implies that he knew he had not paid, but expected a response anyway. And if he got that response, why should anyone outside the metropolitan areas ever pay again? You might also wish to take into consideration the fact that the voters of the county have rejected at least one scheme for a tax-funded county-wide fire service. > [@](#): > > I’m probably being horribly dense but I can’t see how, if the FD had proof that someone like Cranick used their services, they couldn’t track him down and extract payment at a later date. What would stop them from taking customers like him to court and suing for the full amount owed plus court costs? That would require incurring considerable legal fees, which are paid for by who, exactly? In this case it would be the taxpayers of the city. Is that fair? You might also wish to consider the PR effects of headlines like “FD SUES MAN WHO"S LOST EVERYTHING FOR FEES.” It would be a disaster. ---
**Author:** ![hansel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6bbea6/32.png) [@hansel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hansel)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2010, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-pay-up-or-we-let-your-house-burn-down/556210/504 "2010-10-17T22:09:43Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > I am glad you enjoyed the “tards” suffering. I am glad you like the price he paid. I am glad you are at peace with his home burning down and his animals dying. Shit he got what he had coming to him. People like him deserve to suffer for not being smart enough. > On the other hand, i believe when you are there and have the means to put a fire out, you do it. It is simple. It is the right thing to do as a thinking caring human being. You help your fellow man, even though he may not be as bright or an good a citizen as you are. I would feel all warm and fuzzy if the firemen put the fire out. We all would have elevated ourselves as thinking caring humans. Now we have seemingly intelligent people who feel good about a guy getting what he had coming to him. Only way it could have been better, is if they rode him out of town on a rail. Then an even better lesson would have been learned. Perhaps he should be jailed for endangering animals? He got off lucky. Well, I personally would have some very pointed questions for Crannick about why he didn’t let his animals out of the house in the two hours it took for the fire to spread from the shed to double-wide. It’s almost like he didn’t give a shit about them. You haven’t answered my question: What does it matter how anyone else _feels_ about his tragedy? We’ve outlined a bunch of practical arguments why the inaction of the firefighters was justifiable. You’ve addressed none of them, preferring to heap scorn on us less-than-perfectly-empathetic people. ---
**Author:** ![SoulFrost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f07891/32.png) [@SoulFrost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SoulFrost)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-pay-up-or-we-let-your-house-burn-down/556210/505 "2010-10-18T00:42:33Z")
Crannick looks to me like a jackass with delusions of entitlement. Still, the firefighters should have hosed the guy’s house down for the very reason that we have firefighters in the first place–you don’t fuck with fire. Not ever. To hell with fees and public relations and headlines and who’s right and who’s wrong. Don’t take the chance that everybody’s stuff gets burned to the ground because one guy is being a class-A douche. ---
**Author:** ![emacknight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ec8ea/32.png) [@emacknight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emacknight)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-pay-up-or-we-let-your-house-burn-down/556210/506 "2010-10-18T00:48:53Z")
> [@CannyDan](#): > > All right, ten pages in, Page 11, and the dumb seems to have gotten dumber. > [@gonzomax](#): > > They don’t deserve fire protection, do they? You’ve really illustrated a special kind of stupid. A willful ignorance approaching that of **Starving Artist.** To deserve fire protection, residents of this fucked up hell hole have to actively subscribe to a service, and pay $75. Were you aware of that? If they don’t sign up, they don’t “deserve” anything. It’s that simple. It’s an active process, so by not signing up, they are actively REFUSING fire protection. You’ve tried countless attempts to squirt out a reason why Cranick “deserves” something. You tried to pretend someone could have been in the house. You bitched about the animals Cranick’s fuckwit of a grandchild let die. Now you’re trying to suggest he’s poor and suffering dementia. Do you hands hurt from clutching at so many straws? BTW Have you made sure everyone else in his area has paid their subscription fee? If this happens again tomorrow (possible to Cranick himself) then who will be to blame? Wow you really are a special kind of stupid. Has your family considered moving you into an assisted living facility? I’m worried about you on your own. How did you even manage to find your way from your cot to a computer? At first it was kind of funny, as if you were playing devil’s advocate, if the devil was really stupid. Now you’re just kind of sad. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-pay-up-or-we-let-your-house-burn-down/556210/507 "2010-10-18T15:27:11Z")
> [@SoulFrost](#): > > Crannick looks to me like a jackass with delusions of entitlement. Still, the firefighters should have hosed the guy’s house down for the very reason that we have firefighters in the first place–you don’t fuck with fire. Not ever. > > To hell with fees and public relations and headlines and who’s right and who’s wrong. Don’t take the chance that everybody’s stuff gets burned to the ground because one guy is being a class-A douche. You realize that they carry their own water, right? There are no fire hydrants to hook up to. And you also realize that they were called out to protect a subscriber’s house, right? So what if they use all the water on Cranick’s house, and then need it for someone who isn’t sponging off his neighbors? If Cranick had not lived beside a subscriber there would have been no firefighters there at all. Then whose fault would it have been? ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-pay-up-or-we-let-your-house-burn-down/556210/508 "2010-10-18T15:37:51Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > Just pointing out that you screwed up the quote and I didn’t write what your quote attributed to me… Future reference, you should use the report button to alert a mod so they can change it. I’ve already done so for this post. > [@Giraffe](#): > > It’s like every Aesop’s fable rolled into a single ball of karmic wonderfulness. Needs more lions. Bonus: \*\*gonzo \*\*could then bitch about how no zookeepers were on site to stop the lion that bit Cranick’s moronic head off. > [@jtgain](#): > > Or have you all not read the thread? The irony of you making this post in this thread, it burns. > [@George\_Kaplin](#): > > This is a long thread so I may have missed something, but how do we know that Cranick _chose_ not to pay the $75.00 fee? Read the fucking thread or get the fuck out. Don’t be a lazy dick and make us repeat ourselves for the fiftieth fucking time. Although it appears that someone already did. But you deserve to be told anyway. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-pay-up-or-we-let-your-house-burn-down/556210/509 "2010-10-18T17:01:39Z")
> [@emacknight](#): > > Page 11, and the dumb seems to have gotten dumber. > > You’ve really illustrated a special kind of stupid. A willful ignorance approaching that of **Starving Artist.** > > To deserve fire protection, residents of this fucked up hell hole have to actively subscribe to a service, and pay $75. > > Were you aware of that? > > If they don’t sign up, they don’t “deserve” anything. It’s that simple. It’s an active process, so by not signing up, they are actively REFUSING fire protection. > > You’ve tried countless attempts to squirt out a reason why Cranick “deserves” something. You tried to pretend someone could have been in the house. You bitched about the animals Cranick’s fuckwit of a grandchild let die. Now you’re trying to suggest he’s poor and suffering dementia. Do you hands hurt from clutching at so many straws? > > BTW Have you made sure everyone else in his area has paid their subscription fee? If this happens again tomorrow (possible to Cranick himself) then who will be to blame? > > Wow you really are a special kind of stupid. Has your family considered moving you into an assisted living facility? I’m worried about you on your own. How did you even manage to find your way from your cot to a computer? > > At first it was kind of funny, as if you were playing devil’s advocate, if the devil was really stupid. Now you’re just kind of sad. I just don’t get pleasure in seeing a persons mistake result in terrible misery. I know the people on this thread are all much superior people to this guy. People of his type should just burn out, get their animals killed and get out of your world. I have a sense of community. My community is large. I take no pleasure in another mans pain, not even Cheney’s. I understand he was not as solid a citizen as you are. He paid dearly for it. But calling him names and pretending you are superior ignores the fact you are enjoying anothers misery. He got what is coming to him is a terrible attitude. the mans house burned down and his animals died. I hope it makes your day. I feel sorry for him. I know he could have prevented it. He did not. He may not be too bright. But he paid big time. But that is not enough for you. You want to revel in his pain, pointing out how much smarter and better you people are. How stupid was he? Plenty. He fucked up big time. I feel badly that his mistake resulted in death of his pets and destruction of his home. No, I do not feel he had it coming. Nobody has that coming to them. Nobody. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-pay-up-or-we-let-your-house-burn-down/556210/510 "2010-10-18T17:03:50Z")
Yeah, I rubbed one out when I heard a house had burnt down. God, you’re stupid. The strawman you keep building in this thread are smarter than you. ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-pay-up-or-we-let-your-house-burn-down/556210/511 "2010-10-18T18:24:05Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > I just don’t get pleasure in seeing a persons mistake result in terrible misery. I know the people on this thread are all much superior people to this guy. And you’re superior to us, so that puts you at the top of the moral pyramid. Kudos. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-pay-up-or-we-let-your-house-burn-down/556210/512 "2010-10-18T18:53:26Z")
> [@Giraffe](#): > > And you’re superior to us, so that puts you at the top of the moral pyramid. > > Kudos. Apparently. Sorry you enjoy others pain. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-pay-up-or-we-let-your-house-burn-down/556210/513 "2010-10-18T18:54:34Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > Yeah, I rubbed one out when I heard a house had burnt down. > > God, you’re stupid. The strawman you keep building in this thread are smarter than you. And the strawman is? ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-pay-up-or-we-let-your-house-burn-down/556210/514 "2010-10-18T18:56:00Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > Apparently. Sorry you enjoy others pain. Don’t be. It’s pretty awesome, actually. Thanks to cable news, I have an erection 24 hours a day. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-pay-up-or-we-let-your-house-burn-down/556210/515 "2010-10-18T18:59:47Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > And the strawman is? This. [QUOTE=You] You want to revel in his pain, pointing out how much smarter and better you people are. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-pay-up-or-we-let-your-house-burn-down/556210/516 "2010-10-18T19:01:36Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > And the strawman is? That we’re all getting off on this guy’s house burning down. Calling an action correct and being happy about it are two different things. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-pay-up-or-we-let-your-house-burn-down/556210/517 "2010-10-18T19:04:30Z")
Word, Giraffe. Damn chilean miners are harshng my buzz, though. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-pay-up-or-we-let-your-house-burn-down/556210/518 "2010-10-18T19:30:39Z")
I applaud people who act selflessly, including the firemen who put out Cranick’s first fire. But Cranick brought his own misery upon himself. It is he who has no sense of community, no selfless love of his neighbor. That doesn’t mean that I get pleasure out of it, because I don’t. But I sure as hell can’t be worked up to shed a tear for him, either. As far as the sense of community goes, I can fully appreciate how holding hands and singing “Kumbaya” can bring us all closer together as human beings. But the practical side of me also understands that the gonja dealer and pizza man need to be paid, or the party’s over for everyone. So when the hat is being passed around, I toss in a few bucks. The Cranicks of the world disappear to the PortAPotty. So when the party ends early because the freeloaders of the world want all the perks with none of the pain, I have a hard time feeling sorry for them when they groan about it. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-pay-up-or-we-let-your-house-burn-down/556210/519 "2010-10-18T21:05:15Z")
So \*\*gonzo \*\*can have someone to feel superior to: I’m glad Cranick’s house burned down. Willfull freeloaders like him deserve exactly what they get. Not somebody who _forgot_, not somebody who \*couldn’t afford \*it: someone who had the ways and means necessary and made a \*deliberate choice \*to sponge off everyone else, from their neighbors to the fire department. **HOWEVER** , if any pets were trapped inside, I do deeply regret that. But \*if \*it did happen, it was _100% the responsibility of Cranick and his family_: for not paying the fee, for not being more careful with fire, for not letting the pets out when they had the chance. ---
**Author:** ![SoulFrost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f07891/32.png) [@SoulFrost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SoulFrost)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-pay-up-or-we-let-your-house-burn-down/556210/520 "2010-10-18T21:52:33Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > You realize that they carry their own water, right? There are no fire hydrants to hook up to. And you also realize that they were called out to protect a subscriber’s house, right? So what if they use all the water on Cranick’s house, and then need it for someone who isn’t sponging off his neighbors? > > If Cranick had not lived beside a subscriber there would have been no firefighters there at all. Then whose fault would it have been? Dousing any house that is burning in the area is part of protecting the subscribers. Uncontrolled fire goes where it damn well wants. Kill it at its source and you won’t have to worry about it spreading in three different directions at once (which would really, really suck if there are no fire hydrants.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-pay-up-or-we-let-your-house-burn-down/556210.md?page=25) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-pay-up-or-we-let-your-house-burn-down/556210.md?page=27)