Peter Arronsen is obviously upset at the victimisation he is receiving from his local postman who is depositing red rubber bands around his garden. I can't help but feel the victimisation should be the other way around.
Take this story from Korea as an example on how victimisation & vigilantism should work ...
Dateline Korea, June 2005.
A young woman sits on a commuter train, protectively clutching a fluffy, miniaturized pet canine. Dogs are allowed on Korean subways. Long story short: For lack of more comfortable accommodations, the dog was compelled to take a big ol' shitzu - all spluttery and with a lot of fanfare - right on the rubberized linoleum floor of the subway car, to the horrified stares and glares of fellow subway passengers.
See in the background, how all the onlookers appear to register differing levels of disgust and despair?
One passenger known only as Miss Kim said,
"The dog pooped right next to the old man and (the girl) was embarrassed. She didn't know what to do at the time. So my girlfriend took out a tissue from her bag and gave it to her and the old man, me and my girlfriend, gave her some space. She said thank you and then cleaned the dog's anus with the tissue! "Hey, you have to clean the poop, too. If you bring the dog, you have to be responsible for that," I yelled at her.
From that time, people started paying attention to her. The old woman who was near her, said, "Hey, you have to clean! Clean! Clean the poop!" The old woman pushed and threw a rag at her to use to clean the mess.
I took out my camera and I was taking pictures and pushing her to clean the poop, but she didn't say anything. She was just looking at her dog and petting it. The subway train got to Ahyun Station and when the doors opened, she got off. At that time, she said something rude to the old woman."
Miss Kim, armed with a digital camera, snapped several quick pictures of the offending scene, making sure the girl's face was as visible as the dog shit, and extending the narrative pastiche to include other subway patrons begrudgingly cleaning up the dog shit for her.
When Miss Kim returned home, she uploaded the images to her personal website, where they existed for many weeks.
When Miss Kim returned home, she uploaded the images to her personal website, where they existed for many weeks.
People did read her website and yes, they became furious. The image was instantly popular, sparking a nation-wide dog shit hunt. The girl in the photograph became the subject of one of the earliest internet memes in Eastern history, and quickly earned a new nickname: Gae-Ttong-Nyue, or "puppy poo girl" - encouraging the Western translation of Dog Shit Girl.
Viewers zoomed in on portions of the image: the dog, the bag, the girl's watch. Within days, she would be found and "punished" by an online mob, with a campaign of ridicule, harassment, impenetrable JPEG parodies, shaming techniques and all-out intimidation. She was treated like a public enemy. Internetters began visiting the Web site of the university they assumed she attended, and bombarded it with posts, effectively crashing the server. When an administrative staff member finally saw a photo of the Dog Shit Girl, it was determined there was no such student in the university's records.
Nevertheless, the young woman was eventually forced to capitulate with an online apology, which in time made the whole thing blow over
"I know I was wrong, but you guys are so harsh. I regret it, but I was so embarrassed so I just wanted to leave there. I was very irritable because many people looked at me and pushed me to clean the poop. Anyhow, I'm sorry. But, if you keep putting me down on the internet I will sue all the people and at the worst I will will commit suicide. So please don't do that anymore."
Surely with a bit of work we can make everyone who lets their dog foul our public places & every postal worker who drops red rubber bands in our gardens feel just as good about themselves as this girl obviously does.
Are you up to the challenge ?
1 comments :
I am so up for it that it hurts!
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