Selfie sticks are being banned at a number of places and events (Disney theme parks being the latest, as I understand), and arguably rightly so. After all, public safety and the invasion of personal space are very legitimate concerns, and then of course there’s the matter of just plain bad taste; there is already crassness enough in the world, but to be obvious about it is particular cause for censure and even intervention. I mean - just as a thought experiment - consider Versailles without the ban. Yes. You know you’d want to kill them.
Here’s a running list of venues where the ban is in force: The List
But surely we can do better than just banning these things; selfie-stickers have feelings too, so this is my proposal: We have dog parks, so why not stick parks? These photogenic folk can run free and be their natural-born selves without stigma in designated enclosures with their selfie sticks, happily clicking away at their various chosen panoramic removes. Get enough of them in one place and it would be like a conference of narwhals waving their tusks above the water. It would be an impressive sight to delight the onlooker, I should think. Everyone wins.
In the interests of full disclosure, I must admit that my proposal arises strictly out of theory because while I can well imagine it, I’ve never actually seen one in use except in photos. I doubt this means that when it comes to taste, my fellow Minneapolitans on the whole are a cut above. No: as much as I’d like to think so, it only means I haven’t found myself venturing into selfie-stickers’ natural habitats. Plain old hand-held selfies, on the other hand, are of course endemic wherever you go. It’s charming in a quaint sort of way until they walk into you.
Well, the Colosseum in Rome was full of selfie-stickers (that must be a new noun, surely?), but they weren’t the biggest problem: The biggest problem was the selfie-stick sellers outside. Semi-aggressive, everywhere, in the way, etc.
Just checked the list - I see Colosseum has joined now. I wonder if that will help with the sellers, they tend to, er, stick to crowded places.
You know, it just occurred to me that a crowd bristling with selfie sticks could offer one the opportunity to observe natural selection at work. Maybe we’ve been looking at this the wrong way.
I noticed the Tour de France isn’t on the list. Given the number of accidents caused by people even without sticks, I would’ve thought it would be first on the list. I think it will be even more dangerous with sticks – being struck by a stick/iPhone at 35 mph/60 kph has to be really nasty.
About sticks/selfies in general: Honestly, how vain can someone be?
Selfies are pretty narcissistic. I have been known to take one but it’s very rare. Generally, for me at least, alcohol has been involved. Selfie sticks should just be banned altogether. They’re an abomination. If God had wanted us to have selfie sticks, he’d have given us …
To be fair, it’s hard for me to entirely fault people for it if they present well in photos. I don’t like photos taken of me (selfie or otherwise) because the camera does not love me and I deeply hate the result. If that’s not vanity, I don’t know what is. So…
That said, the practise of selfying can be taken too far into immodesty, but it’s not for me to gauge (and it’s none of my business). As for vanity unchecked, I think all can agree that the selfie stick leaves no doubt of it. But you can’t regulate vanity. The very notion is ridiculous, because take away the stick and the vain will still be vain. You can, however, regulate a hazard; hence my proposal of stick parks. Besides, it would be hilarious to behold.
I think it’s time to put this idea before the city council. If nothing else, those ninnies could probably use a good laugh - if they’re at all capable of it, which I somehow doubt. And they might just bite: this sort of nanny-state thing is right up their alley.
I cannot think of a time I have been in the presence of someone selfie-sticking. It is rumored to be ubiquitous, but I cannot attest to that. It is possible I appear in only the worst places, where no one else would actually like to go.
As for selfies in general, I’ve been known to take them. Sometimes they’re terrible, and I quickly obliterate their little digits. So there we have two proofs of vanity–1) I take them now and then, and 2) I disallow the bad ones.
I don’t know what any of this signifies for society or my place in it.
Yeah, as has been pointed out, that’s an exaggeration.
But I’m a mole. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone taking one. I almost smacked a family member who took a pic of her dinner when we were in a restaurant and posted it to Facebook, right in the middle of dinner. Almost, that is (in my best Foghorn Leghorn voice).
Otay, I saw a selfie stick yesterday. It was a biker chick, on the Schoodic Peninsula in Maine, taking a picture of herself in front of her bike in the parking lot. Not with the beautiful scenery in the background.
I will point out that, day before yesterday I saw a couple more firsts, these on Mt Desert Island. First we saw a guy on a bike, towing a baby trailer behind him. With a dog in it. Then, later, a guy with a Snugli. With a dog in it.
