More than Meets the Eye

Have you ever been towed?

How’d you feel?

Were you pissed off? Smoke coming out of your ears? Wanting to strangle someone?

Or did you just take it in stride? No big deal.

Well, I gotta tell ya. I’ve gotten parking tickets and wanted to shoot someone. So if I got towed – and towed in a situation that didn’t deserve to be towed – I’d want to kill someone – figuratively speaking, of course.

Well, that’s what happened to Britt McHenry, who is an on-air news correspondent for ESPN in Washington, D.C. Prior to doing the news, Britt covered sports for ESPN.

Britt went to dinner at the Hunan Restaurant in a mall in Alexandria, Virginia. When she exited the restaurant, she discovered that her car had been towed.

The next morning, she tweeted ARLnowDOTcom – a website that bills itself as “the up-to-the-minute source for breaking news, weather, politics, events, and community happenings” in and around Arlington, Virginia.

So far, so good.

Britt went to Advanced Towings’ storage facility to retrieve her vehicle.

But when she arrived, she tore a new one for the young woman standing behind the glass inside the cashier’s booth. Despite being warned that a security camera was capturing the exchange, Britt launched an abusive tirade.

I first got wind of this while listening to Tony Bruno and Josh Innes late Thursday afternoon – and they were both ripping Britt McHenry. Josh was painting her as someone who would insult his size, style, and performance while engaging in the sex-act with him. Tony was more like it’s hard to believe a celebrity would act out like that in such a public setting and with the knowledge that a security camera was in operation.

I’d never heard of Britt McHenry and my first impression of her was obviously negative. But I don’t know her – and never will – so I pretty much forgot about it.

But the next morning I was listening to Michael Barkann and Ike Reese on my way to the gym, and they, too, were talking about Britt McHenry. The surveillance video had gone viral. So I decided to look her up online.

I found countless photos of an attractive blonde, smiling and looking perky in each shot. But the more I looked, the more I learned that in the case of Britt McHenry, there’s more than meets the eye.

Here’s the video.

Yes, that’s Britt in the video – and here’s pretty much what she had to say:

“I’m in the news, sweetheart, I will fucking sue this place.

That’s why I have a degree and you don’t – I wouldn’t work in a scumbag place like this. Makes my skin crawl even being here.

Yep, that’s all you care about, is just taking people’s money.

With no education, no skill set, just wanted to clarify that.

Do you feel good about your job? So I could be a college dropout and do the same thing?

Why, cause I have a brain and you don’t? Maybe if I was missing some teeth they would hire me, huh?

Cause they look so stunning.

Cause I’m on television and you’re in a fucking trailer, honey.

Lose some weight, baby girl.”

Prior to seeing the video, I’d imagined Britt yelling and screaming. But that was not the case. All of her insults were delivered with a matter-of-fact tone. She was in-control rather than out-of-control. Which, to me, makes Britt McHenry’s behavior even more egregious.

Britt wasn’t responding in the heat of the moment. She’d had time to cool off a little. She was acting in a cold-blooded, premediated manner. She was misplacing her frustration and hostility on an innocent pawn. The innocent pawn’s name is Gina Michelle.

And Britt McHenry made her verbal assault personal.

This incident took place on Sunday, April 5, but didn’t become public until ten days or so later. Why? I don’t know. Perhaps ESPN used its influence to sweep it under the rug. But Gina Michelle kept contacting media outlets until the episode finally became public.

There is a side to this saga that would make Britt McHenry a more sympathetic character in the incident – had she not verbally abused Gina Michelle.

It seems that Advanced Towing has gained an unsavory reputation for “employing shady methods to tow away cars and collect your cash” in the Arlington area. In fact, the next morning, ARLnowDOTcom posted “Morning Poll: Doing Their Job or Preying on You” about some of the reported improper tows made by Advanced Towing.

One incident involved Advanced Towing removing a vehicle from a CVS parking lot with children inside the vehicle. Below is the result of that poll.

I can empathize and sympathize with Britt McHenry almost every step of the way. I don’t know if her car was parked legally or illegally. But I know that she was hostile – as I would’ve been – right or wrong. But her emotions were in-check by the time she reached the storage yard. She exercised self-control in the volume of her voice. But her insults were way out of line.

According to a report at DeadSpin, Britt McHenry has a history of boorish behavior.

ESPN suspended Britt McHenry for one week. After which, Britt McHenry issued the obligatory mea culpa.

Dear Britt – Here are two lessons you should take from this incident:

• It’s perfectly alright to vent your anger – but it’s not alright to make personal attacks on the objects of your frustration.

• And don’t pull rank – it’s unattractive.