Aussie Scooters Talk Smack

[Yooper]

This is funny:

...a few “vandals” in Brisbane, Australia decided it’d be funny to hack eight Lime scooters and make them play rude voice commands. The company, however, is not amused.

According to the Brisbane Times, the eight Lime scooters affected by the hack were altered in such a way as to play “offensive messages” through their audio speakers. The speaker is normally used for ease-of-use commands, but the hackers were able to play a selection of audio files of a sexual nature, including, “Don’t take me around, because I don’t like to be ridden,” and "If you're going to ride my a**, then please pull my hair, okay?"

The company's reaction is sad:

“It’s not smart, it’s not funny, and is akin to changing a ringtone,” said Lime’s Queensland spokesman Nelson Savanh. He continued with, “It’s disappointing that someone has taken this opportunity to poke fun at members of the community in a hurtful way that is so far removed from the values we hold as a company.”

Emphasis mine.

Link: "Hacked Lime Scooters Ask Riders 'If You're Going to Ride my A**, Then Please Pull My Hair'"

This, apparently, is where we are as a global society; where "changing a ringtone" is akin to poking fun in a hurtful way at some unspecified members of the community!

What happened to the days when this sort of thing would be considered funny (at worst, coarse). What would Richard Pryor or Lenny Bruce say about all this...?

One word: pathetic. Clint Eastwood appears to be right: we are besieged by a "pussy generation."*

*Eastwood quote (partial): "That’s the kiss-ass generation we’re in right now. We’re really in a pussy generation."

--- End of line (MCP)