As always, it’s the tale of the tape
When I was dumb things.
Hey, it was a two-light town. We rode around in our soupedup cars, waved at the same guys as we cruised the main drag, desperately trying to be cooler than our pals. We hoped the girls would notice, although most times they did not.
Being ‘cool’ was a lot easier when you could ride around town all night on 50 cents worth of gas.
Did we do things we should not have been doing? What do you think. No, we were not immune to proving who had the fastest car. That call that drag-racing. That delicious water that is delivered to your homes from the Octoraro Water Authority? It comes from the Octoraro Reservoir, right outside the little town where I grew up. There is a flat, two-lane bridge that goes across it. It was the perfect drag strip. Don’t tell anybody.
We also were 10 minutes away from Maryland, where the legal drinking age was 18, and where you could score a bottle Boone’s Farm for 99 cents.
Yes, we did all those things and more. That’s what kids do. It was another time. Luckily for most of us, it was also a time before the Internet. Before Facebook. Before seemingly our every waking moment was captured on video.
It is something grateful for.
I have total deniability when it comes to the indiscretions of my youth. There is no video evidence.
Or, as I admitted more than once to my kids, “Do as I say, not as I did.”
It seems to far.
Both of my offspring a kid, I I did will be a have worked are lot forever so in of fact quite adults.
I think they got those from their mother.
Kids today don’t have that luxury. Oh, they still do dumb things. That’s what kids do. But today those innocuous things often end up on video, posted on the Internet.
Here’s the thing about the Internet. It is forever. It never goes away.
It seems like just about every week I get a phone call from a student – or more likely their freaked-our mother – wanting to know if a story detailing their offspring’s activity can be taken down from the Internet. It didn’t see like that big a deal when they were trying to pledge that frat as a freshman. But three years later, as they are trying to go out into the real world, a quick Google search of their name – which most businesses are doing these days – still shows the evidence of that night they got arrested for some stunt or another.
Here is a tip that I always offer to young people whenever I speak to a high school or college class. Be real careful with your social media. Those pictures and videos that you thought were so cool will not be looked upon especially fondly by a potential employer.
And if you’re going to do something really stupid, don’t do it in a place where your activities will be recorded forever on video. Like, say, in front of a convenience store.
That is a lesson Barry Baker has learned the hard way.
Baker rocketed to fame a few months ago when a video surfaced of him sucker-punching a man with cerebral palsy outside a 7-Eleven store in West Chester.
First, Baker mocked the man’s gait as he exited the store. Not satisfied with that, he reared back and slugged the man in face.
All of responsible young this was clearly traits captured the on the
When the video hit the Internet, Baker became an Internet star, though not the kind anyone would want to be. He skipped town and was eventually snagged weeks later at a local hotel.
Last week Baker entered a guilty plea in the case. He likely is looking at some state prison time for his actions.
There was even some extra drama involved Baker’s plea. He was supposed to enter the plea the week before, but refused to admit to all the facts that the District Attorney’s office was laying out. He wanted to stand by the story he gave one of our reporters from the Daily Local News in a jailhouse interview that he and the victim had a previous encounter at a West Chester nightspot.
There was only one problem with his story. There was no video, nor any other evidence, store’s video cameras. that the victim had been in that bar that night. There was evidence, however, that Baker had been there. Baker now will forever be connected with the phrase “sucker punch.”
It’s all a part of the tale tape.
This is not to make light of what Baker did. It was an outrageous act that sparked a massive backlash and made Baker one of the most disliked individuals around.
But the truth is many items that cause people so much trouble when it comes to social media are much more minor in scope.
That doesn’t mean they are viewed any less seriously by a potential employer.
We live in an age when so much of our activities is recorded on video – even if you are not aware of it. Think about it. Every time you walk in or out of a store, you are captured on video. Every time of the you stand in front of an ATM, there are pictures. Bang into a car in a parking garage? It very well may have been caught on video. Think twice before you simply drive away from the scene.
Police now routinely seek surveillance video any time they are investigating crimes. They get it from businesses and even private homes.
It’s amazing how many times an image pops up showing the suspect.
Of course, some than others.
Don’t believe it? Barry Baker. are more Just ask blatant