Impulsive bird gets the scorn
UPEI student who flipped the bird on live TV says it was an impulsive act fuelled by frustration, not Premier Dennis King
For Lou Schraeder, an impulse decision on election night made her briefly “Twitter famous.”
About an hour and a half into CBC’s national broadcast Monday night, while Charlottetown anchor Louise Martin spoke with P.E.I. Premier Dennis King, Schraeder leaned into the frame with big smile on her face and waved. Then she gave the nation the finger before sliding back out of sight.
“Oh, no,” she says, while recalling what happened next.
Within minutes, the 21-yearold UPEI student’s impulsive action was tweeted by George Stroumboulopoulos and ballooned from there.
Not long after, a bartender asked her, “Did you know that you’re trending on Twitter?”
Schraeder hid her face in her hands. “Oh, no.”
The news spread so quickly online one of her friends found out from his mom in Ontario, who asked him if she had met Schraeder before.
While many didn’t agree with her actions, saying they were “mortified” and sarcastically calling it “classy,” most just poked fun.
Ryan McKenna, associate editor at Sportsnet, tweeted that a source told him Schraeder was directing the finger toward Premier King. This was not the case, she says now.
“It was just a moment of impulsivity and I meant no personal offence to Mr. King. I think myself and many other people are just generally frustrated with the election and I think a lot of people felt they couldn’t vote for the party that actually aligned with their values and we were forced more into fear voting.”
Schraeder does say she regretted the gesture even before she put her finger down.
“It was immediate. It felt rude.”
She is taking everything in stride, though, and finds some of the comments funny — particularly those asking if her mom is proud of her.
“She’s more proud of it than I am.”
Schraeder isn’t looking to capitalize on her 15 minutes of dubious fame, but she did feel it was important for her to come forward.
“I felt like it was kind of cowardly if I was like, ‘nope, not me,’ or something and to apologize to Mr. King. It’s really not a personal attack on him.”
Now with the election over, Schraeder is still not completely happy with the results.
“I feel like it was, for me personally — and I know a lot of people would feel differently — but the Liberals winning a minority government is like a consolation prize. It’s not the worst it could have been, not really the goal.”
But it’s doubtful she’ll react so offhandedly about it any time soon.