M.J.

It has been more than a week since Michael Jackson's passing on. In the past one and a half weeks, while there are a lotta people who are still trying to cope with the fact that the King of Pop is gone, I have seen how others turn to exploitation. As soon as news of his death was leaked, the first wave of vultures came. The tabloids. Ironically, the very people who ran 'exclusive' stories about Michael Jackson's alleged child molestation case, were now singing praises about him and talking about how he will be missed (and even a story about the boy who claimed Michael Jackson molested him and his 'confession' that these claims were all fabricated).

Then came the next few waves. Within hours of the news, the music retail stores started taking out the old stocks of Michael Jackson CDs and putting them up again. Why not. Instead of selling the old and the no longer popular stock at a sale price and incurring a lost, these stores could now sell it at a higher than usual price.

Then there was an increase in the sale of Michael Jackson memorabilia on eBay (sold at exorbitant prices); commercial radio stations and music channels started playing his songs back to back; any surface or material that could be printed on had Michael Jackson's picture on it, ranging from t-shirts to mugs. All of these were within 24 hours after his death.

Overnight, everyone had become a Michael Jackson fan.

Celebrity or not, to exploit someone's death for money, well, that is an indication where society is headed. Enough said. RIP.