Carrots

Over the last month-and-a-half of blogging I’ve started collecting news links throughout the day. Things I could comment on briefly, but no more than that. Sometimes I think of something clever. Sometimes I don’t, and write a meandering introspective bit of fluff accompanied by a picture taken while I was out.

Other times a second story appears, that can be somehow tied to the first, saving me the effort of putting all that thought into it…

Six days ago, actor Jonathan Crombie died. He was best known for playing Gilbert Smythe in “Anne of Green Gables”.

I couldn’t really think of anything to say… I don’t remember the films much at all. There was a house, surrounded by fields, probably? And Anne rode in a wagon sometimes. Maybe there were bikes. I was very confused about what cordial was, or was that in Road to Avonlea?

Anyway, I didn’t remember the films, but I did remember this article from Libby Anne: “That Just Means He Likes You”. Yikes. Scary stuff. So of course I wanted to comment on that. But it seemed crass. And there wasn’t really anything I could say that she didn’t already cover.

Then this happened: “John Key, New Zealand PM, Apologizes For Tugging On Server’s Ponytail”. Yikes. Scary stuff.

As it turns out, in the real world, pulling girls’ hair is assault. Who would have thought? And stopping it can be a lot trickier than just hitting the guy in the head.

Watch this clip. It’s satisfying. I still don’t remember what happens next.

There are some really screwed up power dynamics going on here, beyond just the gender issue. The guy had security guards. The cafe isn’t likely to just kick out the Prime MInister. The girl was being paid to be nice: Luckily in NZ the servers are probably less dependant on tips than here, and a whole lot less than in the US, but she still didn’t have the option of just leaving. And why should she leave?

Then again, maybe the power dynamics don’t contribute that much. Maybe even if she was the Prime Minister she’d still have to put up with that kind of crap.