It was happy hour in your nation's capital when a news report came on the TV about a news anchor in Alaska who quit her job on the air during a live broadcast. When the story popped onto the flat screen monitors hovering above the bottles of bourbon and vodka the bustling crowd hushed a bit. At the dramatic moment when Charlo Greene said "F*** it, I quit" and stormed off the screen, the joint erupted in cheers and laughter.
If you haven't seen the viral video on your Facebook, these are the basics: Ms. Greene was reporting on the movement to legalize pot in Alaska with a story focusing on a cannabis store that had opened in Anchorage. She then made the report very personal:
"Everything you've heard is why I, the actual owner of the Alaska Cannabis Club, will be dedicating all of my energy toward fighting for freedom and fairness, which begins with legalizing marijuana here in Alaska. And as for this job, well, not that I have a choice but, f*** it, I quit."
So why is this move getting rousing cheers in bars and virtual high fives across social media? What is the visceral desire on the part of working men and women to raise their middle finger to their bosses (and in this case their customers) and announce their freedom from the shackles of their daily drudgery?
By any objective measure, what Greene did was insulting, classless, and obnoxious. It should be condemned, not celebrated.
First, she breached whatever standards of journalism still may exist in the American media by delivering a report featuring a company that she had a personal interest in. Had she not quit, she likely would have been fired when that fact was divulged.
Second, her on-air histrionics were a surprise to her colleagues and caught them off-guard in a live television setting. It was disrespectful to those she had worked with and insulted their profession. This move didn't hurt her boss or "the man" it hurt her colleagues, the people she was supposed to be teammates with.
Finally, her move was an insult to the viewers of her program. Her customers. The people who paid her a salary (which was probably much higher than the average pay for Anchorage) just by tuning in to the drivel that is local news.
Her display was vulgar and profane and showed contempt for the very people who allowed her to earn a handsome paycheck merely for putting make-up on and reading a teleprompter three minutes per day.
Greene's sanctimony is palpable. She told her YouTube followers that she made her move for freedom and equality ... or something:
"There comes a time in each and every one of our lives where we must choose to continue to spectate or stand up for what's right. Why are Americans arrested every 37 seconds, Alaskans every 4.3 hours? Why should an aspiring someone lose their ability to earn a higher education, to become someone they were not meant to be? And why should you lose the ability to get public assistance in times of struggle and need?"
Advocating for freedom and fairness should be everyone's duty. I'm making it my life work to uphold what America stands for truly: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, ideals that now need to be defended."
Excuse me, Ms. Greene. Your actions don't represent freedom, fairness, and liberty. They represent obnoxious entitlement and petulance.
I wonder if, when Ms. Greene starts running her thriving cannabis dealership, how open and understanding she will be when her staff of ganja dealers walks out of her store in the middle of a work day because they've had enough with her unreasonable demands to "show up on time" and to "work a full day" and to "not steal money from the cash register"?
How will Ms. Greene deal with all her pothead salesmen who say "f*** it, I quit" in front of her customers as they leave her fine establishment for greener pastures?
The question answers itself. Charlo Greene, the champion of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" will become Simon Legree on her Alaskan pot dealers for their impudence and disrespect. But she'll have no right to do so. After all, they're just going all "Charlo" on her.
So why the cheers from the gang at the bar? Why the fawning celebrations in Facebook posts? What is it about Charlo Greene's self-serving stunt touches every working stiff in America on a visceral level?
This latest version of "take this job and shove it" is nothing more than churlish narcissism in a "Live at Five" format.