Tuesday 3 May 2016

SAY CHEESE


Recently, a 15-year-old boy in India shot himself while taking a selfie with his father’s gun. There is so much wrong with that sentence, I’m not sure where to start. Firstly, how horribly sad when anyone dies, especially when it is a totally senseless death. Apparently this young boy was posing with his father’s 32-caliber pistol (which ONCE again was unlocked and available for a teen to play 'let's take a photo' with) when he accidentally shot himself. Clearly no one in his household hammered home that a) playing with guns is irretrievably stupid and b) put the damn safety on the gun.

This recent death put India at the top of the list for selfie related deaths, bringing the total to 49 deaths in 3 years. Honestly, I had no clue there was even such a statistic and the fact that there is one makes me want to weep. This fatality has now sparked concern with the Mumbai police and they are on the lookout to impose non-selfie zones. (OMG people, is this what the world has come to??! Non selfie zones?!) So clearly, we as a people are so desperate to take photos of ourselves doing ridiculous stuff that we are now risking our lives to do so.

Other countries have also taken action against unsafe selfies by issuing brochures that remind people that there are certain situations in which taking selfies are not a good idea. The brochure is almost comical if it weren’t so darn sad that people need reminding that taking photos of themselves in dumb places is just….well, dumb. Some of the bad selfie locations are on a railway track (really? when has that ever been a good idea) on or near power lines, posing with weapons, on water in a boat, on the roofs of buildings and with large, dangerous animals. To be honest, if you are posing on a high building, next to a lion, holding a gun, hanging from a power line, you deserve your fate.  

Have I taken a selfie before? Sure, now and then I fall prey to the moment and snap a photo of myself and the King, or the husband and I at a concert, and voila, I’m guilty as charged. Do I own a selfie stick? Never, not on your life. It takes all the patience that I have in the world to pass someone posing with a selfie stick and not beat them over the head with it. I think it’s narcissism run amuck and it scares the life out of me. So, those of you that are desperate to take selflies 24-7, I have an idea…next time you want to pose with a gun, go get a fake one (they sell them at toy stores), and ask your friend to take the photo of you. You’ll still look super cool on Instagram, I promise you.

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