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A 30-year-old pregnant nurse attempted to steal a GPS-tracked rental bike from a young black man right outside her workplace, and when a group of onlookers surrounded her and started filming she had the audacity to start acting strangely, call for help, and briefly cry. Don't worry, justice has been served: she has been identified and suspended, and she will never be okay again.
I'm posting another comment because this is my favorite story in a long time. It just exposes so many things that are insane with American culture:
Why is she getting fired for this? Is there any evidence she did anything wrong, inappropriate, immoral or illegal?
Why isn't the behavior of the black man considered sexual harassment? He's deep in her personal space.
Why is a sixth month pregnant woman traveling on NYC streets on a rented bicycle? It's 2023 and we can't get reasonable transportation for pregnant women? We're on the verge of having home robots (and a massive unemployment crisis) and we can't even keep a pregnant woman at home where she is most safe?
Why on earth are people, in this thread, complaining about white women's tears? I'm a 100% hetero man and I'd break down crying if this happened to me. She was accosted by multiple huge men who were scamming her and humiliating her on the internet. Seriously, if you aren't on her side, I think you lack empathy or something.
Imagine showing this to someone in 1900. We have instant global film-making and we use it to ruin the lives of pregnant nurses, briefly following a massive global pandemic where nurses were on the front lines. And the powers that be decided to side with the teenagers and ruin this nurse's life! (And that's without the racial angle, obviously.) I'm going to be laughing about this story all day. It's just so absurd. I can't imagine anything more ridiculous, but the simulation is manifold I guess.
Real freedom is being able to express your real feelings. Like crying for help when you're being accosted. Would any sane society set up a system where six-month pregnant nurses have to make snap decisions in the face of simultaneous physical and social threats, and then punish them for crying? This is just more evidence that America is not a free country (anymore?) and is also no longer a serious country. (This is a deeply satisfying revelation for me personally, because it demonstrates that all the people in my life who though I was a "threat to women" due to my slight awkwardness... well this is evidence that those people are literally insane.)
That is an interesting one. There's the Poisoned Skittles idea...which is that predators that are new to being predators are going to be jittery. And then there's the idea that women are more vulnerable than men and so an awkward man (who might be totally harmless) is something to be afraid of. How would you feel if you were around, say, a guy like the Mountain, or prime Shaquille O'Neil, or some other huge, fast monster of a man that could trivially overpower you. And: he's gay. And awkward. Maybe guys like that need to work hard, signal that they're not going to be threats or pursue sex or relationships...in exchange for ordinary social inclusion.
On the other hand: we don't have enough information to make a determination on who was trying to get over on whom; however, the youths did not handle the situation well. He should not have been that close to her; if the bike really was his and he needed to get it returned he should have taken control of the bike, perhaps by pushing the rear wheel or seat. Then, he should have allowed her to use the bike, whether he got there first or not. He's a strong young man; she's a pregnant woman; it is not a good look for him to get in an argument over something like that.
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