#ignorant behavior

"Stop spewing that bullshit about how other people who've been abused haven't turned out the same way Ward has. I don't give a damn about those other people. They are irrelevant"

Everyone knows you roll your eyes when one of your friends posts a picture of food s/he is about to eat. There's something so annoying about it. Like, who cares? But I think I've gotten to the bottom of it. I think I figured out the worst part about people Instagraming the food they're about to eat.

First, the framework: Instagram is a privileged social network. You can't be on it unless you have one of two brands of smart phone. Either brand costs a bunch of money and the monthly service fees are like, over 100 dollars. Right. No surprises there. (And don't get me wrong...I want Instagram so bad. This isn’t an attack on responsible Instagram users.)

The point is, people with access to Instagram are a socially elite subset of people who have access to the internet and cell phones, who are a socially elite subset of the world's population.

Ok, now let's talk about food. People with access to food are a socially elite subset of the world's population, too. Some people either don't have money to buy food or live in places where there is not even food to be bought, man. Food is the main thing of survival. I'm thinking historically here, before mass production of food was a thing. Lords feasted, peasants starved. Access to food has always been such a strong symbol of survival and wealth.  And it still is, both in this country and also on a global scale.

So, when someone instagrams a picture of some delicious meal they’re about to eat, it's a person with access to a privileged social network, using an expensive device to tell the world that they are eating expensive food. Or food at all. It's like saying, "Hey guys. I'm rich and more well-fed than you."  Imagine any head-of-household living below the poverty line seeing that stupid fucking instagram of an $12 salad that you're about to eat on the terrace. Imagine them seeing a burger with some gourmet bullshit on it and being like, "Wow, I wish I hadn't been laid off. Maybe my kid could eat a burger like that one day. For now I guess it's just canned peas and whatever other processed foodstuff with no nutritional value was on sale." Luckily they won't ever see it because they probably don't have Instagram. Oh yeah also, there are other places besides America where people just don't have access to food.

Points are:

1) Nobody gives a shit what you are about to eat. Ever. You're just bragging. Get over yourself and your sandwich.

2) It's gauche as hell to tweet pictures of your ample supplies of food to reinforce your socio-economic stability. You're rolling in your relative wealth and it's staining your white linen napkin.

3) I wish I had Instagram, so don't get me wrong on that one. Like I said, it's not an attack on Instagram and iPhones, just on the ignorant behavior of some users.

3a) Someday when I do get Instagram, I am going to start posting pictures of everything I am about to do.

"Picture of the street I'm about to walk down!"

"Here is a train I am about to get on."

"Article I am about to skim read!"

"Before and after: Just Cut My Toenails!!!"

"Screen shot: Person I am about to call."

You get the idea.