So yeah. Let's talk about the Star Wars kid and the fiasco the charity fund has become.

Let me start off by saying that not a single person who donated money to this "cause" has any right to ask for that money back. None whatsoever. No one has been in any way mislead or scammed out of their money. They saw some poor kid who was taken advantage of by his schoolmates, felt some glimmer of empathy for him, decided to send money to him - knowing nothing about his character, his personality, his circumstances, nada. At that moment in time, they lost any control they might otherwise have had over the money.

Maybe this will be a lesson that people are more complex than first impressions would suggest, or that a 30-second video generally can't communicate what a person is about - just because they appear at a disadvantage does not make them pure of heart or worthy of your pity. I'm not saying that anything Ghyslain has done since that tape became public indicates a less-than-peachy personality. What would you do if you made a mistake like that when you were 15 years old and suddenly had the media literally knocking on your door, disturbing your family and friends, calling at all hours, etc.? Wouldn't you feel like punishing the jerks who put you through this in the first place? Litigation may have a bad image, but it's a totally reasonable recourse in situations like this and doesn't reflect badly on him at all.

Back to the refunds though - just because a cause turns out to be not as great as you'd imagined doesn't entitle you to your money back. Where is the line where people feel they can say "I don't like way you've spent my money"? Ghyslain made no promises, he didn't even express a desire for the money in the first place! How can people give money freely and then expect to have a say or be able to judge how that money is used? These aren't taxes, he's not an elected official. What did they think he would do with this money? Save it for college? Get a better outfit to wear next time he found himself in a room with a video camera and a broom handle? On the other hand, what if he decided to buy some crappy clothes with it? What if he gave it to a group that someone had some moral objections to? What's it to them? Why do they get a say, or even an opinion, in what he does with the money? Again, he didn't ask for it - I was there when those responsible for gathering the donations were trying to get in touch with him, looking for legal approval to write the check. As much as he tried to avoid it, they were persistent.

It's simply that he turned out to not be the person they thought he was. They were putting this trust into someone they didn't even know!! He's not part of their community, he has no history with them, and he has no responsibility to them. It's not like he set up the fund, nor was there any understanding that he would do what they wanted with the money. When they clicked "send" (or whatever button Paypal uses), they lost all control over how that money was to be used.

I'm sure that when all is said and done, he would rather be without the money, and without the publicity that has come along with it. Still, that doesn't entitle the donors to the money they freely handed over. Not a penny.

I won't even get into the frustration and stress that this has caused Andy and Jish. At one point they were looking at having to cough up at least $200 each to make up the possible losses from Paypal fees so that these people would get all their money back. It's even more ridiculous than the initial charity drive.