A lesson in dying

I heard the news at a Jack In The Box restaurant. It's not the place I would ordinarily expect to get the latest celebrity news and gossip.

A woman sitting on the other side of the restaurant blurted it out. Anna Nicole Smith died.

I turned to look who said it. In an instant I made a judgment. This woman was full of crap. This young woman didn't look like she even knew how to read. Well, maybe there was a bulletin on TV or something or she heard something on the radio. But I remained skeptical.

Never the less, as soon as I got back to my office after lunch I hopped onto my computer to see what I could find. I saw a headline from CNN which said that Anna Nicole had collapsed. And before I could even pull up the story I thought to myself, "see she only got part of the story. Anna Nicole isn't dead. She was just taken to a hospital."

But when the new page loaded, there was an update headline that confirmed the former Playboy playmate was dead.

I'm not a big celebrity gossip follower and I've never been a fan of Anna Nicole Smith's but I like to think I stay pretty well attuned to current events. But I learned something today. I learned that sometimes I judge to quickly the reliably of an information source based on superficial appearances. And I learned that you can get more at a Jack In the Box than burgers and fries.

I'm sorry for judging you young lady.