Bullied 68-Year-Old Bus Monitor – Did Max Sidorov Really Act Out of Kindness?
I was really touched when I heard about Max Sidorov’s act of charity for the bullied bus monitor, but now there seems to be more to the story that has me wondering about his apparently altruistic act.
No one likes to see anyone so disrespected as Karen Klein was on that bus. Admittedly, I haven’t watched the video of the 68-year-old woman being bullied by those kids; it would hurt my heart too much.
Now BuzzFeed reports a different side to the story, or maybe, another perspective on the story. Sidorov garnered a huge amount of money for the elderly woman, raising enough money to not only send the distraught woman on vacation, but to actually have enough funds to retire (read: close to $200,000). It’s a beautiful story. No one loves a touching story more than yours truly.
In another act of kindness, another Indiegogo user Case Prince began a charity fund for Sidorov to thank him for his altruistic act. “Max Started the campaign that turned into a landslide of support for Karen Huff Klein and against bullying.. I feel Max deserves a small reward himself?…*” states Prince.
Moments later, Sidorov thanked everyone who sent love his way, linking them to the charity that would send money his way, plus an Amazon listing for his new diet book…
Does this apparently altruistic act seem to sour in our mouths as we discovered this. This begs the question, Is any altruistic act really altruistic? Can anyone perform an act of kindness without benefiting themselves? Darwin and evolution would say ‘no,’ the act will eventually benefit the species. Maybe not immediately but over time. An episode of Community would say ‘no’–Man is inherently evil. (I can’t find the episode otherwise I’d link it here.) I would really like to believe that Sidorov began this fund to help out an old woman and to focus media attention on bullying, and not the alternative–panning his diet book. But I can be very gullible at times.
What do you think? Should Max Sidorov continue to get our kudos? Even if his intentions weren’t all pure, does the end justify the means?
