For a middle-old guy, I’m pretty Internet savvy. I have been an early adopter of new ideas such as Facebook and Twitter. I have my Pinterest invite waiting in the wings, though I haven’t had the time to play with it.
Apparently, I am more Internet savvy than a lot of 20 somethings, who don’t seem to understand the power of the medium and that what they say online is never private.
It’s not entirely their fault, I guess. It’s ignorance and ignorance, unlike stupidity, can be overcome. Few people seem to understand how the Internet works and that search engines can catalog everything you do, from your Facebook posts to your Tweets.
I enjoy bursting the bubble of those around me regarding these issues. I have one almost in-law who thinks he can’t be traced. One day I popped his name into the search engine and with a few tweaks to the search words, his name and records lit up like the lights on a Christmas tree.
I profess I get perturbed at some of this ignorance. Each morning I begin my day erasing all the little graphics people post on Facebook from other sites with supposedly deep thoughts. I do this for one reason – these postings are tracked, people – you are unknowingly helping these companies acquire data from you and anyone who then shares these images.
I know you don’t know this is happening. But basically, these companies should be paying you for the privilege of having their “ads” posted on your Walls. They are making money off of your advertising space.
Which brings me, serendipitously, to one Jean-Sun Hannah Ahn. If you don’t know the name then you’re not from Seattle. At the moment, Jean-Sun is the flavor of the week, all because of her seemingly innocent Tweet about Seattle and its inhabitants.
You see, Jean-Sun is the new Miss Seattle. Before she was crowned Saturday, she Tweeted this, “Ew, I’m seriously hating Seattle right now. Take me back to AZ (Arizona)! Ugh, can’t stand cold rainy Seattle and the annoying people.”
Now there is a great ambassador for the town. I’m sure she will do well at the Miss Washington pageant.
It seems that Jean-Sun is a 3 watter on the 100-watt scale of brightness. She doesn’t seem to understand that Tweets can be searched, if you know how to do it. Given her new found notoriety, it’s not surprising at all that a reporter did a search for her and found the rant of a very immature 22 year old.
I love the fact that she tried to cover up her tracks with this fauxpology: “Those Tweets by no means reflect my actual opinions or views, I was simply having ‘one of those days.'”
Really Jean-Sun? You posted this Tweet on your own Twitter account by they don’t reflect your actual opinions or views? Then whose views were they exactly?
I really think Jean-Sun should go back to Arizona where she obviously enjoyed being Miss Phoenix in 2010 before moving to Seattle to move up the beauty pageant food chain. I think she deserves the sun of Arizona, if for no other reason than the fact that it’s her birthright. After all, her parents didn’t name her Jean-Rain or Jean-Drizzle.
Having returned to the homeland four times now since last September, I can tell you Jean-Sun, and I don’t think this is a state secret, that it rains in Seattle. Not as much as Atlanta, Mobile, New Orleans or surprise, Miami mind you. In fact, the highest any Washington state city ranked in the study was Olympia, which came in at #24. But it does rain or at least threaten to rain, a lot in Washington. (By the way, Olympia had the most days it does rain, with 63. Mobile had 59 rainy days in comparison).
Part of Jean-Sun-Rain’s excuse was that she was in culture shock moving to Seattle. I can understand this, if it wasn’t for the fact that Jean-Sun is a Seattle native. I have been away for seven years now and I didn’t experience any culture shock. It was the same Seattle I had known all my life, albeit a bit nicer than I recall.
I’m not talking about the weather either. We’ve already covered that issue. No, the people seemed nicer.
When I lived in Seattle people seemed a bit stand offish. Everyone seemed to be so into themselves that they appeared to have forgotten how to be pleasant and thoughtful human beings. After living in Florida now for the past seven years, I can tell you that Seattle sure has a lot of Floridians beat in the friendly department.
In Florida, blinkers should just be an option on cars because no one uses them anyway. People will just lane change right into you if you’re not watching. And forget about someone letting you in. And people can be very aloof here in Florida. Well, on the Treasure Coast at least, which is Snowbirdland. Maybe it’s an East coast thing… I don’t know.
But I was surprised that when a checkout person at Trader Joe’s asked how we were doing and we asked how she was in return, the checker said, “Great. And thanks for asking.”
“Thanks for asking.” Wow. Not only was that the polite response, but it showed that she was actually listening to us as well. Imagine that. Courteous conversation.
I was taken aback a bit. It reminded me of when I moved to Port Orchard. When I asked the checker there how she was, I got a three-minute dissertation about how she was still sore from the demolition derby Saturday.
I think Jean-Sun-Drizzle needs to get out a bit more and discover what Seattle is really like. Maybe it will help her overcome her “culture shock” that she experienced moving back to her hometown. I know that if I move back, I won’t be having the same problem she has, and I will actually appreciate the fact that 1) it does rain in Seattle, but as not as much as most people think, and 2) the people there are a lot friendlier there than in other parts of the world.
Out on the Treasure Coast, where (surprise), it’s sunny with a 30% chance of unfriendly,
– Robb