Does An Empty Life Offline Feed Into Infamy Online?
Why the need to seek public attention at the risk of injury?
James Beaufait and I had an exchange recently regarding another Touron incident with wildlife in Yellowstone National Park. You remember what this reasonably new acronym is, don’t you? A tourist acting like a moron.
I recounted the story just this past week of another person on a flight being removed from the plane for unruly behavior and shouting, “I’m Instagram Famous now.”
Anyway, that man-beast encounter and the woman above prompted me to ponder why some people, regardless of the venue or event, seek public attention, sometimes in a grand manner.
Both of these acts not only denote a questionable lack of intelligence but also outline rude, embarrassing behavior. I see these things happen and wonder what their family thinks and how their parents would feel.
Aren’t those things still important?
Now, I’m not a therapist nor a psychologist, though I occasionally play one or the other on TV. Just kidding. I’m an observer of life, which includes people by default.
And, I, like many of you, wonder why people do what they do.
Or, and I’m just guessing, so much online content glorifies people doing odd, strange, imbecilic things and getting loads of attention. So, some viewers of this behavior become envious of the public adoration and decide to launch their version, dismissing whether or not it’s wise or safe.
Can you just imagine that guy, husband/father or not, definitely someone's son, explaining to their family why they decided to challenge a 2,000 lb animal to a selfie or arm wrestling match? Or that woman promoting Instagram as she is forcibly removed from a flight?
They are not conversations that I would want to be involved in. If I were, I might suggest professional help to the perpetrators.
In the late 60s, the pop artist Andy Warhol said, “In the future, we will all be famous for 15 minutes.”
Did he, by chance, misspeak? Should he have instead said, Infamy?
I’m just curious. And equally the same about what you think.
Thanks for reading, dear friends.
Hey, if you think I have potential as a writer and wish to sample some more of my stuff, you can Subscribe here to be updated whenever I publish a new piece.