Disaster Chief

The degree to which complete strangers are now surveiling each other is unreal. 4 days ago, it was 39f, no wind. We parked 250' from the door to the meat store. The walk took 45 seconds. Our baby was in (light pink) thick wool tights. This random lady whips her phone out, snaps a picture, and lambastes us publicly online. She had no idea we were only walking 250 feet, nor that we were only outside for 45 seconds. She clearly couldn't tell that the baby was in light-pink tights, nor that they were thick wool. And she didn't know that our baby SWEATS when she naps, takes her hat off, and literally coos with joy when she finally gets to cool off. So we figured a 45-second cool-down was totally harmless. This lady disagreed. These days, you are always being watched and graded on your *perceived* conduct by parochial social media vigilantes armed with cameras. It's like the paparazzi but for normal people. Who knows what could come of this kind of thing? How easy is it to be misinterpreted in public? There is no grace, no chill -- the judgements are instant and damning. This is very common. I don't really care what the woman thinks about us, but I do understand why some young people are nervous to have kids. If you have kids, you'll be watched on an extremely granular level when in public -- and there will be photographic evidence for even the smallest perceived misjudgement.

the contrast is insane