The Penalty for Being Politically Incorrect

Seems that about a month ago, eight city employees in Leawood, Kansas, put up $30 for the prize in an office pool. But no one’s going to win, now, because Leawood Mayor Peggy Dunn has spoiled all the fun Big Time.

The employees weren’t betting on anything sporty, involving the Kansas City Chiefs, which is probably the first thing that would come to mind for a lot of people. Nor were they starting early for the popular “Who’s gonna make it to the Super Bowl?” competition.

These folks came up with a more socially relevant office pool: the winner would have been the person who correctly guessed the number of homicides in Kansas City this year.

But Mayor Dunn said it was “totally unacceptable and completely inappropriate,” issued an apology as mayors do at times like these, and then docked all of the employees who ponied up their cash for a week, and two weeks for guy who held the pot and the supervisor who knew about it but kept his mouth shut and didn’t take part.

Do you see anything wrong with this? I’ve heard that the mayor apologized because of the insensitivity it showed towards the families of those who have already been killed. But I have to tell you that I just don’t see anything wrong with this! To be blunt about it, the homicides we’re talking about are in Kansas City, not Leawood, and most have been in pretty rough parts of town.

This is not a personal vendetta or even poking fun at the death rate; it’s a reality that’s been in the news here all year. If anything, maybe this will increase the awareness for anyone in Leawood or any of the other more upscale neighborhoods who try hard not to hear about these homicides.

Last year, during my tenure at KCMO radio, my producer and I got into a sort of battle over his telling me that famous people die in threes, after two had died. I told him what nonsense it was and we made a bet on the air.

I lost when some other celebrity died within the week’s deadline (no pun intended) we had agreed on.

So I did what any reasonable sore loser would do. I searched on the Internet to see what a search on “celebrity death pool” would bring up. Would you believe about 9,700 results?
Here are some of the listings on Yahoo:

• Who's Alive and Who's Dead? - keep track of which famous people have died and which are still alive.
  

• stiffs.com - going for the gold that lies in the back teeth of the rich and feeble

• You Bet Their Life - a celebrity death pool with cash prizes.

• Rotten Dead Pool - choose ten people who you think will die in the next year.

• Celebrity Death Pool - possibly fatal swimming hole reserved for politicians, musicians, and other unevolved groups of famous people.

• Guess the Date of the Next Skyway Bridge Jumper Pool - put in your guess as to when the next jump will occur off the Skyway Bridge in Tampa Bay.

• O.B.E. Celebrity Death Watch - tracking the demise of the rich and famous for fun and games.

• CashforCadavers.com - provides a haven for death mongers and puts the fun back in funeral.

• Halloween Dead Pool - yearly dead pool where teams are picked fantasy football style

…and Mayor Dunn thinks the Kansas City Homicide Death Pool is worth docking someone a week’s pay?

That's a rotten penalty for being politically incorrect.

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