Author's book publication cancelled after a tweet reporting on a WMATA employee eating on the metro

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I actually know this woman, she's not a racist, conflating her stupid tweet with racism is ridiculous. Calling out people is what she does. Why she did it this time, in this fashion, I'm not sure. BUT, she's not a racist.

I don't think she is I just think she's an idiot.

This seemed more classist to me than racist, but I think it also fits in with the overall issue of black people being monitored and policed in a different way from everyone else. I would imagine if NT had done this in the years before BBQ Becky and all those others, it would have been taken differently than it is now.

Bad judgment for a supposed communications expert. But I think it's also worth remembering that this could happen to any of us, who speak without thinking sometimes.

The OP here (op of the comment not thread). Possibly, but knowing her, I can tell you if this was an old white man WMATA employee, she'd have made the same tweet. It wasn't class or race based. Part of her brand is calling out hypocrisy when she sees it. In this case, she made several really bad mistakes. But who of us doesn't. And while I completely understand the hypocrisy sentiment, I'd never have posted the woman's picture. But to drag her through the mud and ask for her head was WAY way crazy of a reaction. I'm a liberal and consider myself both woke and an ally, and I think the reaction to this has been hysterical and vindictive. And Unsuckmetro is trash. I didn't realize this till this whole debacle happened.

This is PP again (and thank you for being able to talk about the nuances about this and not engaging in hysterics in either direction). I think the thing is that she didn't need to have racist or classist intent for it to come across as racist and/or classist. It just looks real bad when a blue check mark author on Twitter tweets out a photo of a black woman in a uniform, with what sounds like a petty complaint - that the woman didn't obsequiously respond to the author's complaint that she should not be eating on the Metro. I haven't quite parsed through my thoughts about this (outside of that it was obviously just shooting herself in the foot, to tweet this, given that she was looking to be embraced by exactly the people who were clearly going to be offended by this whole thing).

Maybe it just seemed dickish more than anything? Let's even throw a bone to the BBQ Beckys here - say she was right that this person was flagrantly violating important rules and then was rude to boot. It's still dickish to decide that THIS is the thing you want to ruin someone's day over.

What is her personality usually like? Is she petty? Is she overall kind but quick to jump down someone's throat if she thinks they've done wrong? Was she just in a bad mood?

Just reading some of the coverage - it doesn't sound like her book was canceled, just delayed. If I were her I would start immediately trying to rehabilitate my image.

PP again. I honestly haven't fully processed how I feel either. What she did was pretty dickish and petty imo, but I am convinced her intent wasn't to harm the woman in the photo. I think she was possibly annoyed and in the heat of the moment expressed to what she thought would be a supportive audience. I don't know what her frame of mind was, if it came from having a bad morning without sleep or because she was feeling uppity, but I would like to think that based on my knowledge of her, her intent wasn't to harm the wmata employee. She's not that type of person.

Whether her book is published or not is the last of her concerns now, imo. I honestly feel like her whole world is ruined. Her kids won't be able to go to school without being noticed and recognized and possibly judged, her paycheck is in jeopardy. Yes, she put the WMATA employee's paycheck in jeopardy too, but unintentionally. I really think she did the wrong thing with that tweet, but not wrong enough to wish her whole life's destruction like some gleeful posters about karma shared. The mob went after NT with everything it has, trying to ruin her completely. If you google her, all the crap comes up. This is not some family with a 1.5 million dollar townhouse in the heart of DC, and the mom just decided to write a book. They went after her hard, and I worry about how this will impact her whole life. I find posters who only cared about the WMATA employee's check, and only stood by her because of race to be hypocritical. I'm not white btw. I'm tired of people ganging up on the other. If the issue with the tweet was that it adds to the body of media policing women of color, then we shouldn't join the ranks of some gang, doing the same exact thing to someone else, under the guise of justice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I actually know this woman, she's not a racist, conflating her stupid tweet with racism is ridiculous. Calling out people is what she does. Why she did it this time, in this fashion, I'm not sure. BUT, she's not a racist.

I don't think she is I just think she's an idiot.

This seemed more classist to me than racist, but I think it also fits in with the overall issue of black people being monitored and policed in a different way from everyone else. I would imagine if NT had done this in the years before BBQ Becky and all those others, it would have been taken differently than it is now.

Bad judgment for a supposed communications expert. But I think it's also worth remembering that this could happen to any of us, who speak without thinking sometimes.

X100. I also think that the person who defended the author by knowing her and "knowing she isn't a racist," is missing this point about policing black people in public.

I'm all for calling out people implicit and explicit biases, but what you're missing as that we as humans tend to police each other all the time. Did none of you peruse and laugh at the people of walmart blog? I used to know a guy on FB whose whole wall was pictures of fat people eating or ordering fast food. Humans are assholes, it's what we do. This country sure has some issues to deal with when it comes to race, but sometimes people aren't racists and things aren't about race, they're about assholery.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I actually know this woman, she's not a racist, conflating her stupid tweet with racism is ridiculous. Calling out people is what she does. Why she did it this time, in this fashion, I'm not sure. BUT, she's not a racist.

I don't think she is I just think she's an idiot.

This seemed more classist to me than racist, but I think it also fits in with the overall issue of black people being monitored and policed in a different way from everyone else. I would imagine if NT had done this in the years before BBQ Becky and all those others, it would have been taken differently than it is now.

Bad judgment for a supposed communications expert. But I think it's also worth remembering that this could happen to any of us, who speak without thinking sometimes.

The OP here (op of the comment not thread). Possibly, but knowing her, I can tell you if this was an old white man WMATA employee, she'd have made the same tweet. It wasn't class or race based. Part of her brand is calling out hypocrisy when she sees it. In this case, she made several really bad mistakes. But who of us doesn't. And while I completely understand the hypocrisy sentiment, I'd never have posted the woman's picture. But to drag her through the mud and ask for her head was WAY way crazy of a reaction. I'm a liberal and consider myself both woke and an ally, and I think the reaction to this has been hysterical and vindictive. And Unsuckmetro is trash. I didn't realize this till this whole debacle happened.

This is PP again (and thank you for being able to talk about the nuances about this and not engaging in hysterics in either direction). I think the thing is that she didn't need to have racist or classist intent for it to come across as racist and/or classist. It just looks real bad when a blue check mark author on Twitter tweets out a photo of a black woman in a uniform, with what sounds like a petty complaint - that the woman didn't obsequiously respond to the author's complaint that she should not be eating on the Metro. I haven't quite parsed through my thoughts about this (outside of that it was obviously just shooting herself in the foot, to tweet this, given that she was looking to be embraced by exactly the people who were clearly going to be offended by this whole thing).

Maybe it just seemed dickish more than anything? Let's even throw a bone to the BBQ Beckys here - say she was right that this person was flagrantly violating important rules and then was rude to boot. It's still dickish to decide that THIS is the thing you want to ruin someone's day over.

What is her personality usually like? Is she petty? Is she overall kind but quick to jump down someone's throat if she thinks they've done wrong? Was she just in a bad mood?

Just reading some of the coverage - it doesn't sound like her book was canceled, just delayed. If I were her I would start immediately trying to rehabilitate my image.

PP again. I honestly haven't fully processed how I feel either. What she did was pretty dickish and petty imo, but I am convinced her intent wasn't to harm the woman in the photo. I think she was possibly annoyed and in the heat of the moment expressed to what she thought would be a supportive audience. I don't know what her frame of mind was, if it came from having a bad morning without sleep or because she was feeling uppity, but I would like to think that based on my knowledge of her, her intent wasn't to harm the wmata employee. She's not that type of person.

Whether her book is published or not is the last of her concerns now, imo. I honestly feel like her whole world is ruined. Her kids won't be able to go to school without being noticed and recognized and possibly judged, her paycheck is in jeopardy. Yes, she put the WMATA employee's paycheck in jeopardy too, but unintentionally. I really think she did the wrong thing with that tweet, but not wrong enough to wish her whole life's destruction like some gleeful posters about karma shared. The mob went after NT with everything it has, trying to ruin her completely. If you google her, all the crap comes up. This is not some family with a 1.5 million dollar townhouse in the heart of DC, and the mom just decided to write a book. They went after her hard, and I worry about how this will impact her whole life. I find posters who only cared about the WMATA employee's check, and only stood by her because of race to be hypocritical. I'm not white btw. I'm tired of people ganging up on the other. If the issue with the tweet was that it adds to the body of media policing women of color, then we shouldn't join the ranks of some gang, doing the same exact thing to someone else, under the guise of justice.

Totally agree with this. She is going through hell right now. People do stupid things. She should be able to apologize and there should be a way to have a constructive conversation without trying to completely ruin her life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I actually know this woman, she's not a racist, conflating her stupid tweet with racism is ridiculous. Calling out people is what she does. Why she did it this time, in this fashion, I'm not sure. BUT, she's not a racist.

I don't think she is I just think she's an idiot.

This seemed more classist to me than racist, but I think it also fits in with the overall issue of black people being monitored and policed in a different way from everyone else. I would imagine if NT had done this in the years before BBQ Becky and all those others, it would have been taken differently than it is now.

Bad judgment for a supposed communications expert. But I think it's also worth remembering that this could happen to any of us, who speak without thinking sometimes.

X100. I also think that the person who defended the author by knowing her and "knowing she isn't a racist," is missing this point about policing black people in public.

I'm all for calling out people implicit and explicit biases, but what you're missing as that we as humans tend to police each other all the time. Did none of you peruse and laugh at the people of walmart blog? I used to know a guy on FB whose whole wall was pictures of fat people eating or ordering fast food. Humans are assholes, it's what we do. This country sure has some issues to deal with when it comes to race, but sometimes people aren't racists and things aren't about race, they're about assholery.

You are overlooking the institutionalized racism that is so ingrained that it is hard to identify. Was it someone in this thread or another who says racism is like a fog? There are many examples on social media of white people policing, including actually using the police force, black people for just living. Do you remember this thread?

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/758913.page

Just like we give dads a break if the kids is acting out in public but side-eye or tell on moms, or other disparities. Biases are real and they are embedded in all of us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
PP again. I honestly haven't fully processed how I feel either. What she did was pretty dickish and petty imo, but I am convinced her intent wasn't to harm the woman in the photo. I think she was possibly annoyed and in the heat of the moment expressed to what she thought would be a supportive audience. I don't know what her frame of mind was, if it came from having a bad morning without sleep or because she was feeling uppity, but I would like to think that based on my knowledge of her, her intent wasn't to harm the wmata employee. She's not that type of person.

Whether her book is published or not is the last of her concerns now, imo. I honestly feel like her whole world is ruined. Her kids won't be able to go to school without being noticed and recognized and possibly judged, her paycheck is in jeopardy. Yes, she put the WMATA employee's paycheck in jeopardy too, but unintentionally. I really think she did the wrong thing with that tweet, but not wrong enough to wish her whole life's destruction like some gleeful posters about karma shared. The mob went after NT with everything it has, trying to ruin her completely. If you google her, all the crap comes up. This is not some family with a 1.5 million dollar townhouse in the heart of DC, and the mom just decided to write a book. They went after her hard, and I worry about how this will impact her whole life. I find posters who only cared about the WMATA employee's check, and only stood by her because of race to be hypocritical. I'm not white btw. I'm tired of people ganging up on the other. If the issue with the tweet was that it adds to the body of media policing women of color, then we shouldn't join the ranks of some gang, doing the same exact thing to someone else, under the guise of justice.

Honestly, this will blow over soon enough. It's a painful lesson about the risk of being very visible as a public figure, especially on a casual format like Twitter -- it's all too easy to press that button and post without thinking.

But her best bet is to do other things that are noteworthy in a different way, once this blows over.

Look, people are allowed to judge you. They shouldn't do it in a way that piles on, but often they do, and they are allowed to, just like she is allowed to post commentary and pictures about Metro employees. That does come with a healthy dose of sow certain seeds, and you'll reap what harvests. Every action has its own risks, and the same for people that she feels ganged up on her.

But it already happened. It isn't going to un-happen. She needs to make one quiet and thoughtful statement, if that, and let it go -- and then do other noteworthy things which are consistent with where she wants to go. And if she wants to keep posting in the same way, well, than that's a choice, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why should the Metro employee's race make any difference?

Why should either of their races make a difference. Totally extraneous information.

[Anonymous]

Yes- we all have implicit bias and when we unintentionally act on our biases we should be called out. But there needs to be a recognition that none of us are perfect and this rush to attack everything about Tynes is too much.

[Anonymous]

Stupidity at its finest. Why isn't everyone criticizing the Metro for not giving their employees proper breaks/space so they can eat their lunch? The signs don't say "now allowed to eat here punishable by fine UNLESS you're an entitled Metro employee, in which case bon appetite." Stop the nonsense. I hate that she lost the book deal for pointing out the hypocrisy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
The OP here (op of the comment not thread). Possibly, but knowing her, I can tell you if this was an old white man WMATA employee, she'd have made the same tweet. It wasn't class or race based. Part of her brand is calling out hypocrisy when she sees it. In this case, she made several really bad mistakes. But who of us doesn't. And while I completely understand the hypocrisy sentiment, I'd never have posted the woman's picture. But to drag her through the mud and ask for her head was WAY way crazy of a reaction. I'm a liberal and consider myself both woke and an ally, and I think the reaction to this has been hysterical and vindictive. And Unsuckmetro is trash. I didn't realize this till this whole debacle happened.

Surely she isn't expecting to build a brand on calling out hypocrisy and yet still expect not to get anyone riled up? I mean, the reason why it works as a "brand" is that it's controversial.

She is not going to be immune from responses to "calling out hypocrisy" in her future dealings, either. It comes with the territory.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Book deal lady seems like a first class beeyatch but I see nothing wrong with this - a uniformed metro employee breaking the law (or what we all thought the law was until yesterday.) This deserves to get called out and I do t see why race matters to anyone except the wapo reporter and all the faux woke people here.

This isn't the metro worker being rude (if that were a crime ain't enough jails in the world). This was small but criminal behavior by someone who KNOWS better.

Because book lady was seen as punching down. It's a bad look for someone who styles herself as an ally to the underrepresented.

I don't understand why it's so hard for people to understand this.

Can we stop with this punching down nonsense.
Jobs at metro are great jobs. Coveted jobs.
NEWSFLASH DUM DUMS: the metro workers are often making as much or more than the white collar riders.

No, we can't stop with this punching down nonsense. No one is saying that this woman was homeless. But some anonymous Metro employee wearing a uniform while eating her lunch when she shouldn't be is not as powerful as an author whose book is about to be published. The author is in a different position. Do you really not understand that?

Well, since her book deal was cancelled, it sounds like her position was quite precarious.

I give up.

You should because you're not explaining yourself well. The Metro worker was wearing a uniform and breaking a Metro rule. Yet the person pointing that out is the one facing consequences. Metro should just dump the rule about eating/drinking if their own employees aren't going to follow it.

+1 People represent their employers when they're on duty.

+2.

On duty and in UNIFORM

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I actually know this woman, she's not a racist, conflating her stupid tweet with racism is ridiculous. Calling out people is what she does. Why she did it this time, in this fashion, I'm not sure. BUT, she's not a racist.

I don't think she is I just think she's an idiot.

This seemed more classist to me than racist, but I think it also fits in with the overall issue of black people being monitored and policed in a different way from everyone else. I would imagine if NT had done this in the years before BBQ Becky and all those others, it would have been taken differently than it is now.

Bad judgment for a supposed communications expert. But I think it's also worth remembering that this could happen to any of us, who speak without thinking sometimes.

X100. I also think that the person who defended the author by knowing her and "knowing she isn't a racist," is missing this point about policing black people in public.

I'm all for calling out people implicit and explicit biases, but what you're missing as that we as humans tend to police each other all the time. Did none of you peruse and laugh at the people of walmart blog? I used to know a guy on FB whose whole wall was pictures of fat people eating or ordering fast food. Humans are assholes, it's what we do. This country sure has some issues to deal with when it comes to race, but sometimes people aren't racists and things aren't about race, they're about assholery.

That Walmart blog was from another, meaner time. Norms on social media have changed since then. A decade ago, this author probably could have gotten away with this tweet. Things have changed - even in the last year, things have changed. If you want to be in the public eye - like with having and promoting a book - you have to keep up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Book deal lady seems like a first class beeyatch but I see nothing wrong with this - a uniformed metro employee breaking the law (or what we all thought the law was until yesterday.) This deserves to get called out and I do t see why race matters to anyone except the wapo reporter and all the faux woke people here.

This isn't the metro worker being rude (if that were a crime ain't enough jails in the world). This was small but criminal behavior by someone who KNOWS better.

Because book lady was seen as punching down. It's a bad look for someone who styles herself as an ally to the underrepresented.

I don't understand why it's so hard for people to understand this.

Can we stop with this punching down nonsense.
Jobs at metro are great jobs. Coveted jobs.
NEWSFLASH DUM DUMS: the metro workers are often making as much or more than the white collar riders.

No, we can't stop with this punching down nonsense. No one is saying that this woman was homeless. But some anonymous Metro employee wearing a uniform while eating her lunch when she shouldn't be is not as powerful as an author whose book is about to be published. The author is in a different position. Do you really not understand that?

Well, since her book deal was cancelled, it sounds like her position was quite precarious.

I give up.

You should because you're not explaining yourself well. The Metro worker was wearing a uniform and breaking a Metro rule. Yet the person pointing that out is the one facing consequences. Metro should just dump the rule about eating/drinking if their own employees aren't going to follow it.

+1 People represent their employers when they're on duty.

+2.

On duty and in UNIFORM

The author represented the publisher, too. And the publisher doesn't find this episode to comport with its values. Book authors aren't unionized.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Book deal lady seems like a first class beeyatch but I see nothing wrong with this - a uniformed metro employee breaking the law (or what we all thought the law was until yesterday.) This deserves to get called out and I do t see why race matters to anyone except the wapo reporter and all the faux woke people here.

This isn't the metro worker being rude (if that were a crime ain't enough jails in the world). This was small but criminal behavior by someone who KNOWS better.

Because book lady was seen as punching down. It's a bad look for someone who styles herself as an ally to the underrepresented.

I don't understand why it's so hard for people to understand this.

Can we stop with this punching down nonsense.
Jobs at metro are great jobs. Coveted jobs.
NEWSFLASH DUM DUMS: the metro workers are often making as much or more than the white collar riders.

No, we can't stop with this punching down nonsense. No one is saying that this woman was homeless. But some anonymous Metro employee wearing a uniform while eating her lunch when she shouldn't be is not as powerful as an author whose book is about to be published. The author is in a different position. Do you really not understand that?

Well, since her book deal was cancelled, it sounds like her position was quite precarious.

I give up.

You should because you're not explaining yourself well. The Metro worker was wearing a uniform and breaking a Metro rule. Yet the person pointing that out is the one facing consequences. Metro should just dump the rule about eating/drinking if their own employees aren't going to follow it.

+1 People represent their employers when they're on duty.

+2.

On duty and in UNIFORM

The author represented the publisher, too. And the publisher doesn't find this episode to comport with its values. Book authors aren't unionized.

+3

On duty (tweeting) and WITH A NAMED ACCOUNT

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Book deal lady seems like a first class beeyatch but I see nothing wrong with this - a uniformed metro employee breaking the law (or what we all thought the law was until yesterday.) This deserves to get called out and I do t see why race matters to anyone except the wapo reporter and all the faux woke people here.

This isn't the metro worker being rude (if that were a crime ain't enough jails in the world). This was small but criminal behavior by someone who KNOWS better.

Because book lady was seen as punching down. It's a bad look for someone who styles herself as an ally to the underrepresented.

I don't understand why it's so hard for people to understand this.

Can we stop with this punching down nonsense.
Jobs at metro are great jobs. Coveted jobs.
NEWSFLASH DUM DUMS: the metro workers are often making as much or more than the white collar riders.

No, we can't stop with this punching down nonsense. No one is saying that this woman was homeless. But some anonymous Metro employee wearing a uniform while eating her lunch when she shouldn't be is not as powerful as an author whose book is about to be published. The author is in a different position. Do you really not understand that?

Well, since her book deal was cancelled, it sounds like her position was quite precarious.

I give up.

You should because you're not explaining yourself well. The Metro worker was wearing a uniform and breaking a Metro rule. Yet the person pointing that out is the one facing consequences. Metro should just dump the rule about eating/drinking if their own employees aren't going to follow it.

+1 People represent their employers when they're on duty.

+2.

On duty and in UNIFORM

The author represented the publisher, too. And the publisher doesn't find this episode to comport with its values. Book authors aren't unionized.

Oh please, you are either truly dumb or being obtuse on purpose.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Book deal lady seems like a first class beeyatch but I see nothing wrong with this - a uniformed metro employee breaking the law (or what we all thought the law was until yesterday.) This deserves to get called out and I do t see why race matters to anyone except the wapo reporter and all the faux woke people here.

This isn't the metro worker being rude (if that were a crime ain't enough jails in the world). This was small but criminal behavior by someone who KNOWS better.

Because book lady was seen as punching down. It's a bad look for someone who styles herself as an ally to the underrepresented.

I don't understand why it's so hard for people to understand this.

Can we stop with this punching down nonsense.
Jobs at metro are great jobs. Coveted jobs.
NEWSFLASH DUM DUMS: the metro workers are often making as much or more than the white collar riders.

No, we can't stop with this punching down nonsense. No one is saying that this woman was homeless. But some anonymous Metro employee wearing a uniform while eating her lunch when she shouldn't be is not as powerful as an author whose book is about to be published. The author is in a different position. Do you really not understand that?

Well, since her book deal was cancelled, it sounds like her position was quite precarious.

I give up.

You should because you're not explaining yourself well. The Metro worker was wearing a uniform and breaking a Metro rule. Yet the person pointing that out is the one facing consequences. Metro should just dump the rule about eating/drinking if their own employees aren't going to follow it.

+1 People represent their employers when they're on duty.

+2.

On duty and in UNIFORM

The author represented the publisher, too. And the publisher doesn't find this episode to comport with its values. Book authors aren't unionized.

Oh please, you are either truly dumb or being obtuse on purpose.

Neither. I'm an author with a blue check mark, who hopes I am never unlucky enough to lose my own little platform and my own tiny career over a petty grievance (or anything else0

There's another episode from the other side of the political realm. This other author got fired from writing Star Wars books for being too anti-Kavanaugh

https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2018/10/19/how-star-wars-writers-tweets-got-him-fired-by-marvel/?utm_term=.f0f76d0cc5e5