SOCIETY rose up as one unified body when it condemned, on social media, the behavior of a young man who took a selfie with young waste picker who was inside a garbage can. The girl was wearing the official jersey of one Jeddah's most famous football clubs and the young man was of the opposing team. Social media users called out the man for the insensitive and offensive picture. The young man soon apologized for his actions after he saw the uproar he had caused. He, however, is not the focus of my article. I am rather writing about the society that took him to task and held him accountable for his actions. Just imagine what would be the state of our society if it had dealt with all its mistakes and shortcomings with the same zeal and fervor. Imagine if those of us who criticized the young man for his behavior, looked in the mirror and saw our own mistakes and treated them with the same spirit with which they had criticized the actions of the young man. If this were to happen, what an ideal society we would have! What the young man did was no different from our daily behaviors as individuals or groups. We start our mornings by breaking the law and end the day by violating the norms that govern our society on the basis of discipline and justice. The failure of the society or its success is determined by the individuals in it. Whatever happens in our society is our own doing. We have not come from another planet; our society is made up of me, you and him. In short, our society is our own making. It is a reflection of our own images. Our society is our collective selfie.
