Showing Prejudice

Yesterday, I did something that I'm not proud of. In fact I'm ashamed of myself today. I commented on social media. "That's nothing to be ashamed of," you think, "we all do it," but I assumed things I couldn't possibly know and was mean about a human being with a certainty he didn't deserve.

I am talking about the clip of the expert on the BBC where his children wander in. It is so delightful to watch that it has more viral infection power than pandas going down a slide and who didn't love them? I have probably watched the clip 127 times now and feel guilty for being so mean and prejudiced.

When I first saw it I couldn't understand why people thought it was so funny. (Actually, I now find it sad   rather than funny)). At first I saw a cold man bat away his small child with the back of his hand and a young, terrified woman drag the children out of the room. My prejudice kicked in and I assumed that the woman was a Nanny (because she seemed much younger than him). I assumed that the push with the back of the hand was a repressed slap and I commented on him, personally. I said that he was a horrible person who would be beating his children and sacking the Nanny later. Social media allowed my to make my initial comment in a way I never would to his face. It might not be quite as bad as people who make death threats to celebrities because they made a comment about Brexit but I am still thoroughly ashamed of myself this morning.

The truth is I know nothing about this man. He is a human being who was just trying to do his best, as we all are.

Having watched again I notice that there are several things my prejudice allowed me to miss.
1. He's on live TV.
2. He's using a webcam in his bedroom. Looking at a blank screen will always make you seem cold.
3. He has staged the room to look like an office. As someone who often has books on my bed I'm fairly certain they are never left neatly stacked and carefully chosen like that.
4. He's on live TV.
5. He's dressed up in a suit for an interview in his bedroom.
6. Because he's in a suit and has slicked his hair back for live TV he appears older.
7. His daughter is delightful, waving a spoon and not in the least bit scared of him.
8. He smiles, awkwardly as he pushes her away. There is panic but not anger in his eyes.
9. He is terrified.
10. He's on live TV.
11. The baby in the walker is cute and also not scared to go into the room.
12. The woman is nimble and quick and brilliant at not showing her face.
13. They are on live TV.
14. Even with her level of agility the woman may not be younger than him even if she isn't she could still be his wife.
15. Wives (and even dedicated Nannies) could rush to get the children off live TV. The fear could come from the situation and not what the man might do.
16. We've all run over a toddler with a baby in a walker and we've all grabbed a child a bit too roughly in times of stress.
17. He apologises a lot. Much more than a super confident child-beating man might.
18. He's on live TV.
19. The woman has super powers and can reach further than stretch-Armstrong (I realise I am showing my age).
20. He's an American academic in Asia, doing a live interview on his webcam from his bedroom, hoping to further his reputation. He probably has tens of thousands worth of dollars in student fee debt and is still apologising.

I would like to publicly apologise to him. I shouldn't have said he was a horrible man. I hope my comments and others like them don't affect his career prospects if he is really a great person just trying to do his best. I will delete my comment from social media and try not to make mean comments about people in future.