Follow-Up, Numbers Up, Head’s Up.

Two weeks ago, I shared my perspective on Charlie Kirk’s assassination. Rather than opine on the political or religious overtones, I viewed the event from a more personal standpoint, as one who taught at Wheeling HS when Charlie was a student there. If you didn’t read it, HERE is the link. What I’m going to say will make more sense if you read the original post.

I was surprised by my grief over his death, given that I neither taught nor coached Charlie in Debate. In the past two weeks, I have received roughly twenty messages from former WHS students and teachers (and more from outsiders). Even more surprising than my reaction to his death was the near universal sentiment from those who reached out to me. Typically, the message began with, “I disagreed with Charlie on almost everything, but…” It was the second half that caught my eye, the part where my grief wasn’t nearly as isolated and unusual as I suspected. We Wildcats were grieving the loss of one of our own, a loss witnessed by millions on an international stage. It was personal to us.

There was one who, while not overtly celebrating Kirk’s death, really wanted nothing to do with the sentiment or the person. To each their own, I suppose. But sadness and shock were the overwhelming reactions from those who reached out to me.

And maybe that’s why my original post went viral. Okay, maybe viral is too strong a word. Maybe the post was more of a circovirus, which is a little, tiny virus.

In the nearly three years I’ve been writing this blog, I’ve never seen numbers like I saw with my personal reflections on Charlie’s death. Never. But rather than describe with words, look at the bar graph below. You don’t have to be a math major to decode this picture. Can you guess when I posted the Charlie Kirk article?

If you prefer hard data, here are some numbers. Since my post on 9/15, Hurl’s Treehouse has had nearly 1000 visitors. That post alone has garnered near 800 views. Those visitors came from a dozen different countries. (Personal shout-out to my two fans in South Africa, three Swedes, and eleven from my ancestral country of Ireland. Erin go Bragh!) Even yesterday, with no promoting on my part, there were ten visitors who viewed twenty links on my homepage.

That is crazy talk. For an average post, I hit about thirty visitors and maybe fifty views. That’s total. I currently have twenty subscribers total, which is better than Mel Gibson’s character in Conspiracy Theory, but not really too impressive. I’m no data analyst, so I’ll just say the post touched a nerve and some folks recommended it to others and so on.

Most readers found it through Facebook, some through LinkedIn, and then a random list of other sources. Social media is good for something.

I’ll add two more snippets to the original post. First, I wish Charlie had joined WHS Debate. I heard from some former students that he came to one or two meetings as a freshman, but he was put off by me saying debaters had to learn to speak on both sides of the issues. That was a deal-breaker for him.

I’ll simply say this. As a skilled speaker, and he was very good, I think Debate would have helped him become even better. Not just me, but the whole experience, the whole team of students and coaches we had then would have sharpened him and taught him valuable lessons. High school competition would have honed him even further. Arrogant? Possibly. But I believe so strongly in the group we assembled and the work we did in Debate.

Second, when I wrote the previous piece, I had no idea how gigantic his murder would become. The ramifications have spread world-wide, dominated airwaves and social media, evoked powerful sentiments from all over the political and religious spectrum. Blame it on my myopic view. To me, he was just Charlie, a student who lived the Wildcat life for four years. He was a local guy, part of a family who lived a few miles from me. Just another student then.

Since leaving WHS, of course I knew of his prominence and popularity, his controversy and confrontations. I took his assassination so personally, I forgot that 99.99% of the world saw a much different Charlie Kirk than I did. I forgot my minority status regarding his persona.

Now what? It seems unlikely that this post will replicate the success of the last post. Humans, we are a people who feel deeply, react strongly, and forget quickly. I suspect that will be true for most when it comes to Charlie Kirk. Me, I’ll find new topics to unleash my wit and wisdom. Maybe I’ll sustain a bump in my numbers of visitors to Hurl’s Treehouse. Time will tell on all this.

Two things for certain: Hurl’s Treehosue will not become a Charlie Kirk blog. I’ll leave that to the conspiracy theorists, pundits, and anybody else with a keyboard and wi-fi.

Also, I’m not done writing. So, here’s your head’s up–I will be releasing a new book in the next month or so. I’m currently working on developing the cover and polishing the 13 short stories for Tales from the Deli. But soon, very soon.

Wherever you live, however you discovered Hurl’s Treehouse, thanks.

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Coming soon! Tales from the Deli, a collection of short stories.

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