Don’t lower the boom on youthful indiscretion

Luis Carrasco says the 17-year-old did something irresponsible — and will pay for it — but it shouldn’t ruin her life. Look at Blue Bell itself.

Because she is a juvenile, we may never learn the name of the “Lufkin Licker,” the young woman who is shown in a now-viral video opening a half-gallon tub of Blue Bell ice cream, licking its contents and then putting the container back in the freezer. And that’s a good thing.

Before she was identified as a teen from San Antonio, she was looking at charges that included a possible sentence of 20 years in jail and was being labeled by Gov. Greg Abbott as a “despicable criminal.”

The 17-year-old did something disgusting, irresponsible and stupid — and will pay the consequences — but it shouldn’t ruin her life. Look at Blue Bell itself. In 2015, the company issued a massive recall of its ice cream over a listeria outbreak where three people died. Not only that, records showed that officials knew there was a problem at one of their factories two years before and failed to correct its cleaning and manufacturing practices.

That negligence almost sank Blue Bell, but no one went to jail or was called out by the governor. In a few months the company was back to producing ice cream — with enhanced safety procedures in place — and consumers gave the iconic Texas brand a second chance. The teen in the video deserves the same opportunity.

The copycats that have emerged, on the other hand, garner less sympathy.

Police in Louisiana arrested a man Saturday after a video shared online showed him opening a Blue Bell container, licking and sticking his finger in the ice cream (because sequels must top the original), before returning it to a store’s freezer. Lenise Martin, who is 36 and old enough to know better, told the Washington Post it was all a prank. He had already paid for the ice cream before staging the video and only pretended to put it back. Authorities are disputing his version of events.

Another alleged prankster, self-described model and actress Shelley Golden, posted and then removed a video to Instagram where she is seen walking into a store’s ice cream aisle, taking a pint of ice cream (not Blue Bell, because threequels must slightly tweak the formula) and licking it several times before putting it back in the freezer.

Martin, an event DJ, said he was not after notoriety. He is either being disingenuous or doesn’t know how social media works, two things that will get you in trouble. As for Golden, she apologized in a Twitter post and told her 1.1 million Instagram followers that she was sorry and that “it wasn’t funny.”

Both those videos received millions of views and clearly, despite what Martin said, these copycats were after the attention. They got noticed, but their antics did not get the kind of reception that these shameless stunts usually receive, which is a mix of condemnation and celebration.

This time it was across the board repudiation, with commenters not only calling them names but some calling for their execution. That is, granted, a bit much, but it will probably keep this incident from becoming another internet “challenge” that is replicated far and wide.

This ordeal has turned into a learning opportunity for everyone: If you’re a teenager, don’t do dumb things (and if you do, don’t record them). For publicity hounds, the lesson is there may be no such thing as bad press when you’re looking to be famous, but there is a line. And that line is a tamper-susceptible tub of ice cream.