Keller @ Large: Welcome To The Real World

BOSTON (CBS) - I see that Karmaloop, a local streetwear company that's been a local model for hip online startup success, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after winding up $40 million in debt.

"We tried to do too many things," founder Greg Selkoe told the Globe. "We launched too many different sites in too short of a period of time."

That's too bad, and I wish them well.

But it turns out Selkoe was the same guy who got into a very public fight with the late Mayor Tom Menino a few years back over Menino's alleged failure to properly cater to the needs of Boston's 20-somethings, not pushing hard enough for late-night transit, that sort of thing.

Funny how things work out. When he left office early last year, Menino left behind a booming city with a budget on solid financial footing.

Selkoe? Not so much.

I get it, the future belongs to the young, and that's as it should be. But it's also true that, as the writer J.M. Barrie put it, "life is a long lesson in humility."

Perhaps Selkoe is now learning one of those lessons.

Also in need of one is Emma Hall, a junior at Brown University who, as the New York Times documents, helped set up a "safe space" for students who found an on-campus debate about sexual-assault policies too disturbing.

Hall found herself retreating from the discussion to the room, which was "equipped with cookies, coloring books… and a video of frolicking puppies" because, she said, the academic debate was leaving her "feeling bombarded by a lot of viewpoints that really go against my dearly and closely held beliefs."

Welcome to the real world, where beliefs don't always go unchallenged, cities can't always afford to be all things to all people, and over-expansion can make a booming business go bust.

It's a humbling place, no doubt.

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