Tonight I spoke on the phone with Joe Burton, the president of Mystery Room Ltd., and I was honestly blown away by our conversation. He apologized right away for the posters on the TTC, and said that while he hadn’t thought about the reaction that people living with mental illness might have to the idea of a “psych ward” escape room, he now totally understood how hurtful it could be.
I feel like it’s so rare for people to genuinely examine why something they’ve done or said is problematic and then offer an apology for it. Like, so damn rare. So I just want to take a minute to recognize how rad Joe Burton is. He is a real, honest-to-goodness solid human being. Thank you, Joe.
Here is the email he sent to the reporter from The Toronto Star, which I found really touching:
Thanks [redacted] for bringing this story to my attention.
Ahhhhhh, I think my little heart might burst. It’s so lovely to have these occasional reminders of how amazing people can be.
Happy weekend, y’all.
