April 16, 2014--Stupider

"Here's my new favorite example of things getting stupider."

"Stupider?"

"Yes. You remember our conversation in the car about how I nurture my inner curmudgeoness to inure me from things getting stupider?"

"'Inure'? Vaguely."

"Here's a perfect example of what I mean." Rona rolled her eyes.

"Did you hear about the teenage girl, Sarah, who tweeted American Airline last week pretending to be a member of Al Qaeda?"

"I did hear about that."

"Let me read you her tweet. 'Hello. My name is Ibrahim and I'm from Afghanistan. I'm part of Al Qaida and on June 1st I'm going to do something really big. Bye.'"

"I'm impressed she knows where Afghanistan is and knows how to spell it."

"But when she heard back from American that they take these threats seriously and that they were going to pass her tweet to the FBI, she pleaded with them, saying it was just a joke and that she 'just a girl' and only a teenage 'white girl.'"

"Stupid, indeed."

"I gather the Dutch authorities have arrested her--she Dutch--and though she's miserable about that she is also excited that as a result of her tweet she now has thousands of new followers."

"Why am I not surprised."

"Here's the worst part."

"There's something worse?"

"Yes. As a result American Airlines reports they are now receiving thousands of threats from teenagers worldwide."

"At least there's one thing to feel good about."

"I'm listening."

"American teenagers are not the only stupid ones."

"Touché."