If you thought manspreading on the subway was bad, well, you’re an idiot and you need a hobby because you’re worried about people sitting with their knees too far apart like some repressed 1880’s school marm. But now there’s something actually disturbing to possibly worry about, and it’s strangers sending dick pics via Airdrop.
The New York Post reported this story and called it a “horrifying trend,” but only actually documented two incidents, two years and an ocean apart; one in New York this past July and another in London in 2015. So it’s entirely possible that this was just one dude Airdropping his dong one time. We call getting worked up about that a moral panic.
Here’s what the Post had to say about the incident:
Britta Carlson, 28, was riding the uptown 6 train to a concert on July 27 when a mysterious message popped up on her smartphone.
“iPhone 1 would like to share a note with you,” read the note sent at 6:51 p.m. She hit “Accept” and was horrified by what she saw. “It was just a huge close-up picture of a disgusting penis,” said Carlson, of Bushwick, Brooklyn. The message was titled “Straw” and was sent by an anonymous stranger.
“It really felt like someone had actually just flashed me.”
I mean, I feel for the woman, no one wants to see a stranger’s genitalia unsolicited. Well, I mean, men do. Men pretty much always want to see anyone naked. Writer Kerry Quinn learned this is 2015 when she sent forty guys a picture of a vagina on Bumble and 37 of them responded positively (and three didn’t respond at all). But women don’t, so, you know, wait for her to ask for a dick pic before you send it.
If you’re worried that this isn’t an isolated incident and want to save yourself from and your phone from seeing unsolicited penises from strange men, set Airdrop to its default setting, “contacts only,” then delete Tinder and Twitter. You could also just use a Windows or Android phone, but that’s basically letting the terrorists win.