From
hereon in Jackster shall be known as Jackass. At least according to
local online news site Cayman Marl Road. David and I were nominated
as 'Jackasses of the Day' in the Social News section, a section
dedicated to naming and shaming those who breach the shelter in place
order, or are just plain stupid. We are in good company, previous
nominees include Donald Trump for crimes too numerous to mention and
the wife of the Cayman Health Minister who posted pictures of herself
at home doing a workout with her personal trainer.
In
the original article the 'tipster' showed a photo of David and I on
the jetty with our bicycles. We were going to cycle to a supermarket
three miles away. The article accused us of using of being residents
of the wealthy south end district who in contravention of the ban on
maritime activities had taken a dinghy across the ocean to visit a
supermarket. I was outraged by the inaccuracy and assumptions of the
writer. It also highlighted to me how easy it is for social media to
be used to spread fake news. A number of people had flown to our
defence in the comments section pointing out we were yachties and the
dinghy is our only way to reach the shore.
With
time to write and the motivation to proclaim our innocence I decided
to write to the editor of CMR
I
refer to your article Jackasses of the Day about the couple going
grocery shopping. I am the person in the photograph with my husband.
I
am outraged that you accused us of being jackasses when we were going
about legally sanctified essential food shopping.
There are
multiple inaccuracies in the report; we do not live in 'affluent
South Sound' and the dinghy shown in the video is not the same one
shown in the photographs (one green, one white), and who in their
right mind would load, transport and assemble folding bicycles to
simply go across the road to Kirk Supermarket?
My husband
and I 100% back the shelter in place order and adhere to the law.
Every
single time we need to 'traverse the ocean' from our yacht to the
public dock, a journey of less than 400m, and only on our permitted
alphabetical day, we seek and obtain permission from Port Security
and equally call again to confirm when we are back on board. Are you
required to ask for authorisation to leave your home to go shopping
as we are?
I
expect and deserve a printed retraction of the story and apology for
a fake news item which you clearly have not fact checked. It has
caused me great distress.
Noting
that on your website you call yourselves 'authentic, raw and to the
point', if your article highlights a Jackass it must surely be you.
Almost
by return there was an apology and the website was updated with an
apology for inaccurate reporting and a retraction of the accusation.
Here's
the link to the website
https://caymanmarlroad.com/on-the-open-waters-grocery-shopping/
While
David and I had a good laugh at the article, after all it's just a
local website, not the Washington Post, reflecting on being called a
Jackass, a stupid person who disregards the law, still upset me. We
are very grateful guests of the Cayman Islands and I felt to be
accused of disrespecting that kindness required the story to be
corrected.
Now
I'm off to find some paint to alter Jackster to Jackass. The name
has a certain ring to don't you think?
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