[enachtry]

A few years ago I realized that getting older (40+) means having to slowly see almost every symbol you've grown up with becoming completely obsolete and/or dying. It filled me with dread thinking about Chuck Norris, Arnold, Stallone, etc.

Seeing the memory of Friends taking hits, first with James Michael Tyler and now with Matthew, is very hard.

Even sadder is his fate was probably sealed because he was alone. It was probably a cardiac event that disabled him in the hot tub / pool and he drowned. Could've been unrecoverable anyway but being alone is making pretty sure it is.

[flkiwi]

Same age bracket here, but ... it's just not affecting me that much. Admittedly I didn't really watch Friends, though I was squarely in the age demographic and was aware of him. And, to be clear, I am deeply, deeply sorry for his friends and family, especially after having seen him go through so much in life.

But this one isn't filling me with existential dread and I don't know why. I keep ping-ponging between "We got started early with the gut punch of Christa McAuliffe, Ron McNair and the rest of the Challenger crew, then Kurt Cobain then River Phoenix then..." and "I guess I'm old now and this is just normal." There's even an argument that, my goodness, how on earth did he make it so far? And I am not being flippant: Perry lived an absolutely hellish life in too many ways.

I have no idea what his cause of death was, but ... I just hope people get help when they need it.

[browningstreet]

Did none of the deaths of the last decade or two have an impact? Honest Q.

I found that the deaths of Hunter S Thompson, David Bowie, and Sinead O'Conner put me a bit on my heels. Some of the others had some kind of impact. And many of the others.. nothing. But at least those three, and maybe a couple of others, definitely threw me a bit.

So that's the Q. Anything..? Nothing? If nothing, I'd personally find that possibly worth investigating. And I'm not big on para-social celebrity/artist relationships. But a few landed for me.

[checkyoursudo]

I have had teenage classmates, beloved pets, sibling, parent, all my grandparents, and close friends die. These have been varying degrees of devastating for me, for a while at least. Some for a long time (my sibling dying young was so, so hard).

Celebrities/artists/all-around-famous-people dying rarely affects me. Prince, maybe? But that was possibly because I like his music so much and probably grieved the loss of more music than the person whom I never met.

Knowing about kids dying in war and from gun violence and domestic abuse and such probably hits me harder than hearing about any random celebrity dying.

[flkiwi]

Oh MANY deaths were hard. Justice Ginsburg absolutely obliterated me (and, respectfully, others may have a different reaction and I understand that). But I haven't really experienced the "I'm old now and watching my heroes die" reaction. Does that make sense?

Limited just to entertainment industry celebrities, I will admit I don't have a strong emotional reaction to ... most of them (other than the general empathetic sadness on behalf of a vibrant human's friends and family) ... but I don't think it's indicative of anything worrying.

[jcul]

I agree, I find it hard to get too emotional about celebrities, even though I may have had great respect and admiration for them. For example, David Bowie, I was a little sad and disappointed to lose a great figure, but we all have to die.

For some reason Sinead O'Connor was an exception to this, and I did feel quite emotional at her passing.

[sshine]

It sounds like the phenomenon of getting affected by the death of some particular celebrity is very subjective.

For me there was a small “but he was young…” with Matthew Perry, but also an “oh well…”.

I frequently talk with my 84-year old neighbours. One lost her husband a year ago, the other one’s wife has dementia. They themselves are sharp as ever, but their whole world is a museum of memories. They have grand children, but everyone they knew is dead. They like company, but one said there’s something special about same-aged people, they share things with.

I don’t know when the death of a celebrity will hit me, but it’s probably when someone younger than me dies of non-accidental causes.

[flkiwi]

One more thing: I lost a parent and a very close friend when I was young, so death has been part of life for me for perhaps an unusually long time.

[hinkley]

I still can’t look at the fact that Fred Rogers is dead.

[flkiwi]

Same here. But not really because he was a celebrity as much as that he was an incomprehensibly kind person.

[chrisco255]

Death once had a near-Chuck Norris experience.

[reactordev]

Wrong, you don’t come back from a Chuck Norris experience.

If death is waiting for us all, Chuck Norris is waiting for death.

Chuck Norris will live forever. When Chuck Norris gets old, he’ll just kick his own ass into shape.

Chuck Norris will have the quickening like the Highlander and pass the torch to another Chuck Norris that looks just like him.

Fun fact, Chuck Norris’ youngest son - Dakota - is a 5th degree black belt and a 5-time UFAF champion. (mind blown)

[jimmydddd]

Thanks! This cheered me up. Hadn't seen the Chuck Norris meme in a while. Not sure if it died out or I just don't hang out at the right places on the Web anymore?

[throw0101a]

Since this is HN, it is obligatory that this link about Bruce Schneier be posted:

* https://www.schneierfacts.com

[fennecfoxy]

Chuck Norris is a misogynistic homophobe who seems to think that the bad-ass TV version of him is him irl. https://www.advocate.com/news/daily-news/2011/03/07/chuck-no... etc.

[chrisco255]

This is 12 year old rage bait from a trash tabloid clickfarm. Why are you even?

[allarm]

Because some people are just full of hate.

[hliyan]

On the other hand, the characters they portray stay frozen in time while you age. The first time I realised I was older than all the Friends felt strange. Now I'm older than Fraiser. In a way, advancing age allows us to surpass the characters we idolise, which at least for me, has a positive effect on self esteem.

[SubiculumCode]

As my dad said to me once: "All my friends are Dead. Dead. Dead. Except Fred. But he's boring."

[gumby]

My grandmother offed herself when she reached that point at 97: all her friends were gone and she was in a housing complex for old people (whom she couldn't stand).

[hinkley]

I think Billy Crystal did the joke, “and now we play a game called, ‘Guess Who Died?’”

[behnamoh]

Which is why I don't understand the reason behind living in suburban areas where houses are far away from each other. If anything happens to a neighbor, others would probably never find out, and it takes a long time for ambulance to get there.

On a side note, I wonder if Apple Watch can detect this kind of events and report that to 911 immediately. Even better, can Apple Watch "predict" such fatal events based on data of millions of users who've had similar incidents?

Edit: Maybe the downvoters can say their counter-argument?

[iancmceachern]

I've lived in both suburban and urban (current) situations.

In my personal experience, I always felt for more supported and a much bigger sense of community in suburban areas. Most suburban streets I've lived on, even when they weren't in the best neighborhoods, I felt comfortable asking anyone on the block for any kind of help. I do not feel the same way in my current apartment building. We have one neighbor who refuses to walk their 120 pb German Shepard on a leash which has already attacked me and my dogs.

[justinclift]

> ... has already attacked me and my dogs.

Shouldn't that dog have been put down already?

[iancmceachern]

It's complicated, and it's SF.

Our dog has actually been attacked by another dog outside on the street and that was more straightforward.

In this situation it happened inside our building, so the city won't do anything and says we need to work with our landlord. Our landlord isn't doing anything despite our repeated asks. The neighbor in question has multiple evictions previously, etc. There just isn't much more we can do unfortunately

[justinclift]

Is SF one of those states where you're allowed to open carry? :)

[ghaff]

I didn't downvote but why do you think the situation would be any different if something happened to you in an urban apartment? In any case, it's way down the list of reasons why I'd choose some specific type of location to live in.

ADDED: I'd add that the downvotes are probably mostly from people who are tired about being lectured to about how they should be living in cities.

[behnamoh]

> ADDED: I'd add that the downvotes are probably mostly from people who are tired about being lectured to about how they should be living in cities.

I don't know why my comment would make them think that way. I'm simply stating my opinion.

[at_a_remove]

I work in emergency services. Your argument works for rural areas that are far, far apart. I do timings for station to suburban homes and the like, regularly. You're just not correct on this at all.

[behnamoh]

The best hospitals in my town's metropolitan area are _inside_ the city, not in the suburbs. Maybe there are some good ones where you live, but ambulance timing is not the only factor—the quality of service is just as important.

[jmye]

I’m curious what you think the ED outcome difference is between the best hospital in your city, and any random suburban one, for generally common emergencies.

Not trying to snark, honest question.

[at_a_remove]

That wasn't your original argument, however.

And here, the suburban hospitals are better.

[tiffanyg]

Regarding the downvotes (none from me, I'll respond generally if it seems at all useful)...

First, this is, I'd say, rather off-topic ... and may seem impolite. It's along the lines of "hey, did you hear so-and-so died?" ... and someone launches into some thought that is not remotely specific to the person who died.

Second, your comment suggests you didn't even bother to 'look at the data'. 'Common sense' basically = 'alchemy', both of which are bollocks.

Now, in fairness, I'll write - among the 'letters' associated with my name, there are not only ... 'credentials', but also, everybody's favorite source of unceasing internal entertainment: attention deficit hyperspace dysplasia. You know, good ol' ADHD. So, I get it ... this may be along those lines, and even people without 'clinical-level' ADHD can have any of the relevant traits at various levels. But still, best to consider certain events like deaths - that many take very seriously - in that light, I'd suggest.

There are almost always people who experience significant sorrow and related emotions at such times. Even not knowing Mr Perry, nor being any particular fan - he had friends, family, and beyond ... all who are now hearing of his rather untimely passing.

[behnamoh]

> First, this is, I'd say, rather off-topic ... and may seem impolite. It's along the lines of "hey, did you hear so-and-so died?" ... and someone launches into some thought that is not remotely specific to the person who died.

I can see why you'd think that way, but please notice that I'm the OP of the post and have been shocked by the news... The show played a huge role in my life and I wouldn't want to draw attention away from the main topic.

> Second, your comment suggests you didn't even bother to 'look at the data'. 'Common sense' basically = 'alchemy', both of which are bollocks.

I would respect your comment up until this point.

[YiraldyGuber]

I'd rather take my chances than live in captivity. Understand that many of us view the sardines crammed into apartments with pity and disbelief.

[mrcwinn]

Pitying strangers is an odd approach to life. Some people like cities and apartments. Others don’t. Okay.

[tiffanyg]

Oh, I don't know about that. I mean, actually caring about other people in such a general sense suggests a sort of strong / true character in a person.

OTOH, commenting about your 'pity' in sardonic language, dripping with so much disdain and so many loaded words / phrases that what should be SUBTEXT is all anyone 'hears' - clearly indicating that all you're doing is signaling a preference and not anything like, say, empathy - well, that's about the opposite.

[gumby]

I prefer apartment life.

[justinclift]

Never having to mow a lawn. :)

[huytersd]

Mowing a lawn is fun, light exercise :) it’s very meditative, especially with some good ear protection and an emission free, electric mower. Beats sitting around on a couch in an apartment.

[bch]

Or patch a roof, or shovel a drive, or paint the (outside of the) house, …

[YiraldyGuber]

Never having a lawn. :(

[Razengan]

It's called a park.

[justinclift]

They're good, right up until you get sick of mowing the damn things.

[LordShredda]

Here's the counter-argument: Your opinion is pretty much blaming him for the cardiac arrest. He lived alone in a suburb because he valued the privacy and no one ever plans for a heart attack unless you're 70+. Also your solution of having a smart watch track and collect your heart activity and send it to a remote server is pretty concerning too.

[behnamoh]

> Here's the counter-argument: Your opinion is pretty much blaming him...

No it doesn't. I'm simply asking whether this kind of stuff is more common is suburban areas vs. urban areas.

[dehrmann]

> Chuck Norris, Arnold, Stallone, etc.

The guys from The Expendables?

[justinclift]

Yeah, they each used to be famous in their own things.

[throw0101a]

I particularly like this scene from The Expendables 3:

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-g_up1kWt0

[ackbar03]

Yea I wouldn't be too worried about those guys either

[harryquach]

I feel old

[800xl]

Hopefully we still have Chuck for a while. His mom is still alive at 102!

[AviationAtom]

It's that awkward time when it really dawns on you that mortality is really a thing. Prior to that you feel very far removed from it, so it isn't much concern.

[lolive]

Let’s admit it was a heart failure. Couldn’t a smartwatch detect it and send the proper alarms?

[that’s what I would expect in our cyberpunk world. #docWagon]

[lores]

If there's someone available in the near vicinity... Average survival rate starts around 90%, then drops about 3.3 percentage points per 10 minutes until the blockage is fixed. The worst kind of infarction, total blockage of the left anterior descending artery, has a 10% survival rate.