Black Humour

I read in the newspaper today the tragic death of Do Van Ky, a would-be Vietnamese immigrant to Britain, and I burst out laughing. You may find this heartless, for the story is a very sad example of what happens to many people who leave a life of poverty in their own country to seek a better life in the west. After somehow making his way from Vietnam to Europe, he entered England via Dover, hidden in the back of a lorry together with several others. Once in England, the immigrants tried to leave the lorry whilst it was still in motion, but Do Van Ky slipped and was crushed under the rear wheels of the lorry.

What could be funny about this? The unfortunate driver of the lorry was Stan Bowden, who couldn't be blamed for what happened. He summed up the event thus:

"A man made all that effort to struggle halfway across the world for a better life, he tried so hard, he must have been desperate. The first time he hit British soil, some bastard ran him over. That bastard just happened to be me."

This made me laugh. I don't know if you are supposed to laugh at such things, but it is probably better to laugh at these things than to ignore them, which is what I usually do.