Some years ago, I was doing a story on my old alma mater, Wakefield Junior High School, on Tucsonβs south side. I swear I actually found my old locker in a hallway that still smelled like floor wax.
At the end of my tour, the principal led me to a small locked room crammed with old records. In no time flat, she actually found the ones pertaining to me.
Yep, they still had the goods on me. Whether thatβs the case today, I have no idea. But I doubt very seriously my records have been digitized β unlike, without question, the records of current Tucson middle schoolers.
Oh, to have oneβs past β including oneβs misdeeds β buried in paper work, safe from the eyes of others. No such luck today, of course, thanks to the ever-reaching tentacles of the Internet, the security camera, and the smart phone.
Pick your nose at Walmart and it will be captured somewhere on a security cam, though itβs unlikely it will ever see the light of day β unless youβre a celebrity.
Smart phones are another matter. Facebook postings of people shopping at Walmart are all over the place. Most of the subjects are terribly overweight and wearing way-too-skimpy clothing. Still, does that make it OK to take their pictures surreptitiously, then poke fun at them on the Internet? Just because youβre in a public place, does that mean you have given up all expectations of privacy, let alone decency?
Some, of course, thrive on the Internet, using it to harness a certain celebrity they might otherwise have never attained. Is there any part of Kim Kardashianβs anatomy that hasnβt flashed before us by now?
Unlike Ms. K, not everyone is OK with having their sexuality flaunted before millions. Do you really trust that your beloved will keep that photo of you au naturel only on his phone, never to be shared even if you break up? If so, youβre a fool.
Same for those of you who electronically send out explicit photos of yourselves. Not only can sexting ruin a career or a marriage, it can also land you in jail, particularly if youβre a minor.
Funny thing is, while the Internet has become somewhat of an accepting sewer for the unseemly, it has also morphed into a pointing finger of shame.
The more recent example is the hacked Ashley Madison website, exposing millions of would-be adulterers. People, people, people: βWhat happens in Vegas stays in Vegasβ is only true if you stay away from the computer.
Actually, I have little sympathy for these folks, not only for exposing themselves to such a privacy breach, but for also being willing to have sex with a stranger, never mind how much virtual cuddling precedes the deed.
And unlike that dentist who rightfully deserves all the public scorn heaped on him for slaughtering a beloved lion, the people I do have sympathy for are those who are subjected to incessant public shaming after uttering an unkind word or committing some sort of tasteless offense that soon after pops up on the Internet.
One man had to sell his house, move to a new city and go on food stamps after posting a YouTube video of himself being rude to a Chick-Fil-A worker. Another lost her job after joking on her Twitter account that because she was white, she would be immune to AIDS while visiting Africa. Both issued abject apologies, to little effect.
Of course these folks were dolts β both for their offenses and for posting them online. But should they suffer for the rest of their lives because of one idiotic utterance or action?
I know Iβve done and said cringe-worthy things during my life. Who hasnβt? But apparently that old adage, βHe who is without sin cast the first stoneβ no longer has merit.
Especially when the nearest stone is only a click away.
