What Is Virus Snitching and Shaming?

A snitch is a rat, a tattletale, or a whistleblower who lets authorities know when someone is breaking a rule. Sometimes the snitch benefits by outing the offender either monetarily or by trading a favor, but often the tattler is rewarded by observing the punishment of the rule-breaker. In these days of coronavirus lockdowns and staged re-openings, there is a steady crop of ‘virus snitches,’ folks that inform on those that defy the shelter-in-place restrictions, violate the limits of nonessential and essential businesses, or refuse to don PPE.

This week in Alabama, a woman called the police on teenagers goofing off outside a bowling alley. In Utah, officials closed tattoo parlors and salons after fielding more than 500 complaints. And in Wisconsin, a doctor was suspended from work after attending a packed rally without a mask.

I’m from Chicago, so my personal favorite is the report that Mayor Lori Lightfoot was outed by her hairdresser for defying her city’s order to stay out of hair salons.  Apparently, Mayor Lightfoot felt that keeping up her public persona by getting a haircut superseded the rules she put in place – $50 fine for visiting a salon.  If you’re a hair stylist, you might check to see if Lightfoot is interviewing for a new one.

On a personal note, this morning I went to the dentist and the experience has me debating the merits of becoming a ‘virus snitch.’ Wearing my plastic gloves and cloth mask, I was shocked to see that other patients in the waiting area had forgotten theirs. The receptionist was without gloves and a mask, too, as she checked in patients and answered incoming calls.  When she took my temperature, I would have been more comfortable if she’d done so from behind a plexiglass screen. That was also missing. While PPE is voluntary in Sarasota, Florida it’s definitely preferred when in close proximity with others.

As I waited to be called back to the dental chair, I overheard this conversation:

“Did you answer the questions on the form for me?” (a husband asked his wife – she had checked them in.)

“Yes,” she said, and his response was, “You didn’t tell the receptionist that I was in quarantine, did you?” Bells, whistles, foghorns!  Are you kidding me?

Maybe this comment was made in jest, and perhaps it was uttered in all seriousness.  Regardless, I found it insensitive and inopportune – akin to discussing terrorism while in a TSA line (remember when we used to travel and stand in that line only to be humiliated? I digress.) 

After fifteen more minutes of growing increasingly uncomfortable in this environment, I rescheduled my appointment and left the dental office.  Forty-eight hours later, I’m undecided about remaining a patient at that dental practice, and whether I want to add ‘virus snitch’ to my resume.

Here’s why:

A Family Dollar security guard was shot and killed in Michigan after asking a woman to wear a mask, and there are several other reports of people being threatened or assaulted for asking others to wear PPE. In St. Louis, citizens who snitched to the government about businesses that defied closure orders are discovering that their messages are not confidential, but matters of public record. That leaves them vulnerable. Snitching is risky business.

Perhaps over time, with clear leadership and consistent goals and expectations, we’ll get better at this “reopening of society,” but until then, it’s everyone for themselves. Sadly, snitching and shaming is just as contagious as the pandemic.

Available on Amazon!