on digital defiance

snitches should get stitches

I recently went through an entirely life changing experience.

I left my phone at my sisters for three days.

For three days, I only checked my laptop in the morning and at the end of the day.

For three days, I couldn’t be reached.

I cackled with delight, feeling naughty and free everywhere I went.

Then I realized something stunning. I’m not free.

None of us are.

Freedom ended decades ago and got worse.

I remember when they installed it. It was the first video security camera that we knew of. Likely costing thousands of dollars to install it patrolled an area where we loved skateboarding. It was there so security could come and chase us away. Skateboarding was illegal and this new tech was a way to enforce the law.

Proudly lawless, we dealt with this intrusion as people should. We vandalized it.

The first time we did it we were stupid. People just drove up to the place and taped a paper bag over the camera. They saw the license plate. Lumpy’s parents got a phone call and that was that. The next…