Last Friday, when a 25-year-old man dressed in a hedgehog costume terrorized Fox 45 and threatened to set off a candy bar “bomb” if the station didn’t play the video on his flash drive, it didn’t take long for the social-media machine to go into full swing. “In Baltimore, even our terrorists are kinda awesome,” read one post. “Baltimore: Let’s Get Weird,” professed another. “Truly a Trump supporter,” read another. All day long, the one-upmanship continued.

I don’t know if this man who was ranting about the end of the world has a mental illness, but his father told news media that his son had struggled with mental illness in the past. I spent the better part of a day pointing out online that such situations may be due to some kind of psychosis; it didn’t take long for the barbs to turn toward me. One heckler, a local comedian, accused me of having no sense of humor. Note to Facebook friend: Sorry to rain on your virtual standup routine, but even a platypus costume wouldn’t have given me the giggles.

Continue reading the full Op-Ed in the Baltimore Sun.

Jane Marion is the food and travel editor at Baltimore magazine; her email is janefmarion@gmail.com. 

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