Before explaining why this is harmless, let’s first set the scene. A 16 year old Melbourne teenager was recently arrested at a Pink concert for an ill-advised tweet that read, “@Pink I’m ready with my Bomb. Time to blow up #RodLaverArena. Bitch.”
Now, let’s face it, this was far from eloquent, and if you’re going to make a reference to Pink’s smash hit “Timebomb” you might want to make sure that the word “time” is used. And while “Bitch” has become considerably less vitriolic in recent years, if you’re sending a tweet to the venue of a concert you’re about to see, maybe leave “Bitch” out in case the person following the Rod Laver Arena’s Twitter feed is a staunch feminist who lives next to a fertilizer factory. Between “Bomb” and “Bitch” well, you’ve got a couple of strikes against you.
Adding Fuel to the Fire Can Get You Arrested These Days
For those that suggest that tweets should be extended to 150 characters, here is new ammunition. Poor choice of words perhaps. You’re just adding fuel to the fire. Wait, that doesn’t work either. You get 140 characters, next time use “Timebomb” and leave “Bitch” out perhaps the 150 character discussion will have to wait for another day.
The reason this tweet is harmless is twofold. First and foremost, he’s a Pink fan. If this happened at a Slayer show, or even Green Day and their faux-punk contrived teenage angst sound, you might consider that the kid may have a bomb. But Pink? You would think it would be quite easy to find him in an arena filled with 12,000 concert-goers, he’s going to be the one knitting while waiting for the show to begin. Secondly, this kid looks like he’s about a buck o’ five (105 lbs.) soaking wet, if he had a bomb with him you would have to think that security would have searched him as he entered looking like the Hunchback of Notre Dame.
Zeroing in on ‘The Bomb’
Another question asked by this story and this kid’s slender build is how did they really find him? Perhaps I’ve being paranoid given an air of paranoia brought on by Edward Snowden, but did they really not use the GPS in the kid’s phone. In an arena of 12,000 it’s not easy to find one sixteen year old kid. Wait I get it, he was the only 16 year old male in a sea of 13 year old girls.
