Zach Wilson's Mom is Getting Twitter-Dragged for the Unpardonable Sin of Sticking Up for In-N-Out Burger
I take a back seat to no one when it comes to my admiration for Lisa Wilson, the social media superstar who also happens to have birthed the No. 2 pick in the 2021 NFL draft and current latest hope for the hopeless New York Jets, Zach Wilson. I like her because she's an unfiltered, strong-willed, breath of fresh air in an increasingly uncandid world. Whether she's taking to the 'Gram to rant about Disney and Snapchat "whores" or admitting that her son offered her money to stay off the internet while shooting down rumors she's on OnlyFans, she just gives off that Cool Mom energy that convinces me she'd be a blast to have as a neighbor or hang out in a luxury box with at one of her son's games.
So I was happy to see her name come across my Twitter feed. Which is to say, until I wasn't. Until I found out she's coming under fire. Because she came down on the side of a fast food franchise in the latest minor skirmish our a broader culture war:
The issue here is that an In-N-Out Burger in San Francisco is refusing to comply with a mandate requiring they check the Covid vaccination status of every customer. Their argument apparently being that if the government wants to know people's medical history before they can be served a burger and fries, it's the government's responsibility, not that of a burger joint. Whatever your opinion on vaccinations - and it's none of your fucking business but just to take it off the table here, I got my shots at the first opportunity - reasonable people can differ on whether the important job of monitoring customer's status should be handled by a public health professional or a 17-year-old making shakes after school for gas money.
Lisa Wilson made her opinion known. And, in the process ... enemies? I guess?
There are more where these came from, but a lot are specifically political so I'm not going to post them. Instead I'll ask, what in the flame-broiled fuck is happening?
Is this how bad things have gotten? A woman shows support for one Bay Area speedburger outlet that has a policy you may disagree with, so you have to call her out on Twitter as a some kind of a dangerous kook? You go all ad hominem on her because she's a quarterback's mom? Do we know where Trevor Lawrence's wife stands on the issue? How about Trey Lance's younger brother? Or Mac Jones' aunt?
What a world.
Here's my standard on things like this. I try to apply three simple words: "And therefore, what?" What is the point that's being made here? I say this as someone who doesn't do anything to earn money other than talk about stuff, much of which is nonsense. But I truly believe I can pass the "And therefore, what?" test with everything I write, discuss or talk about on stage. Often it's as simple as, "Human behavior is funny." "Football is fun." Or "Life is strange." Whatever. There is no answer for what point you're trying to make by clapping at an athlete's mom because she expresses an opinion that is shared by hundreds of millions of people and suggesting that makes her somehow unworthy.
That said, the way so much the internet is working right now was described perfectly by Aldous Huxley in "Crome Yellow" 99 years ago:
“The surest way to work up a crusade in favor of some good cause is to promise people they will have a chance of maltreating someone. To be able to destroy with good conscience, to be able to behave badly and call your bad behavior 'righteous indignation' — this is the height of psychological luxury, the most delicious of moral treats.”
Back off my girl Lisa Wilson. You come at her, you're going to have to go through me. Not that she needs anyone's help.