When I was growing up, deadbeat dads were the norm. Men just skipped town and let their ex-wives take care of the kids in every way. It was before Maury Povich was administering paternity tests followed by the automatic paycheck deduction. Needless to say, this sucked for single moms who weren't independently wealthy.
Today, however, if you find yourself with child and the baby daddy has zero intent of support, there are many, many ways to go about getting his attention — and ultimately — his wallet.
Like say, a blog post outing him and his Twitter feed. Like this lady did.
Alana Joy is a blogger, among other things, who was in a whirlwind relationship that went south as soon as she announced to her previously married boyfriend that she was pregnant. As you can see in her scathing post about George, she has attempted to contact him in the wake of his desertion and now she's resorting to outing him in public. Naturally this went viral.
After all, how many times do you get to see a deadbeat dad (or one perceived to be a deadbeat) completely shamed in public? Then, you get to click on over to his Twitter feed and see how he is seemingly unscathed by the whole thing. This makes you understand Joy's frustration even more. You mean, he didn't even take his Twitter down after she posted it on her blog? That guy must have ice water running through his veins! Or else he's just a powerful Hollywood type. Either/or.
Which makes the drama much more interesting and perhaps explains why people all over the Internets are checking out a cry for help (or angry tirade) by a pregnant woman ditched by the father of her baby. There are one of two ways you'll feel about this: You want to see this guy go down. Or, you really wish Alana Joy had kept this private and hope she finds some peace without destroying this dude's life. I feel a little bit of both.
All in all it's an interesting way to go after the man who knocked you up but doesn't want to deal. It will certainly be interesting to see if it's an effective tool. Men (and women) can't hide from their responsibilities in the age of over-sharing, Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, TMZ, and wherever people go to jabber. This is why so many politicians get caught cheating now compared to the previous decades of secrecy. You can't just ignore a mistress — especially one with a baby — in the age of the Internet.
Ideally, this new openness will make people behave. Or at least handle their affairs before their shortcomings are outed on a blog. Stay tuned.
Do you think Alana Joy handled this the right way?
Image via Sellwood Street/Flickr
