Don’t know if you’ve heard about this story yet….it’s getting pretty wide coverage. But it’s too good, and too instructive, not to pass along with a thought or two. At the risk of indulging in too much cultural analysis, for which we have no special qualifications other than life experience, here we go.
For some time we’ve considered the fascination with tats (tatoos) and body piercings, and especially the escalation in expense, number, size, and locations, is simply the modern day way to say “hey, look at me; I’m different than everybody else!” When ‘fashion statements’ become déclassé for all but the 1% as a way to differentiate yourself from the societal hordes all seeking to be different by conforming, ever more garish and outrageous body art and kinky body aberrations come to the fore.
We consider that Facebook fits within this broad rubric of looking for the attention of others as a way to self-validate and build self-esteem, especially in a comparative way. This is why, in our view, social media has seen such explosive growth.
And such blatant public displays of stupidity, like those criminals who brag about the heist they just pulled on Facebook, for example. Now comes a 50 year old retired nurse from Maine, who you would expect to know better than to do what she did. Read about it here:
http://www.centralmaine.com/2015/05/29/vassalboro-robbery-started-with-facebook-post-police-say/
Ironic, isn’t it, that Face is the operative word here. The gist of the story is as follows:
The Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office has described the suspect in the Vassalboro home invasion as a slim white man wearing a hoodie sweatshirt, baggy jeans and a black-and-white bandanna over his face.
Five minutes after Paul (the husband) left for work Thursday, a tall, thin man armed with a box cutter and a bandanna over his face showed up in their living room archway. Sarah, on crutches because of recent hip trouble, was reclining in a chair.
“Where’s the Vicodin, bitch?” the man said.
He assaulted her, punching her several times in the face before she gave him her prescription painkillers. He left the house and probably fled in a vehicle, according to Capt. Chris Cowan, of the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office, which is investigating the assault that sent Bizier, 50, a retired nurse, to MaineGeneral Medical Center in Augusta with bruises and a cut.
Police say the man probably knew about the drugs because of a Facebook post by Sarah the night before that mentioned that she had been prescribed Vicodin. Cowan said it’s the first time his office has encountered a crime that probably started that way.
“I’ve never been so scared in my life,” Bizier said in an interview Friday. “He was so angry and so desperate at the same time.”
On Wednesday, Bizier took to Facebook intending to warn friends, writing that she was “stupid not to make time to get proper pain control,” telling people to “learn from my mistakes.” The Facebook post twice said that she had Vicodin.And then the wake-up moment:
“It just blows my mind that over a handful of pills, someone would do that kind of damage,” she said. “It changes the way that you view other people,” she said. “I hate having to feel like I can’t trust the world, you know?”It’s times like these when you remember the famous line Fronk (Martin Short) said to George Banks (Steve Martin) in Father of the Bride:
“Vel, velcome to da nindies, Mr. Bonks!”Welcome to the real world, Ms. Bizier, and we hope your object lesson leads to millions of Facebook accounts shutting down. But we won’t hold our breath.
Intelligent behavior doesn’t mean what it used to, does it?
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