There's been a mini-debate over in the Heckasac comments aection on whether it's a good thing or a bad that Tower is having financial woes.

I guess I'm naive but honestly I'm pretty dismayed at the number of people posting things like "fuck Tower." Yes, some of them are basing these comments on their personal experiences working with the company - and they certainly have a right to such opinions, blah blah blah - but I just don't get how keen they are to take glee in the fact that this company may go out of business and leave hundreds upon thousands of people unemployed.

Obviously I have a very vested interest in Tower's health as a company but I don't think I'd ever find that kind of brutal joy in watching a company go under. Not even if it was Wal-Mart or RJ Reynolds.

In any case, vested interest aside, I've always thought of Tower as a local institution -and I don't see the phrase "local instituion" as a bad thing. Sure they've had numerous missteps and haven't always been the best company to work for- yes, sometimes they've been downright lousy - but I also know they've also made some serious, positive and forward-thinking changes in the last four years.

It's one thing to say that a company should be faulted and you saw this coming and well isn't this just a sign of the times ...but that's not even the nature of those comments. Rather the attitude is just self-absorbed meanness, pure and simple.

It's also pretty disappointing.