Life is not normal right now, and there is no way of pretending it is. We are living in the midst of a pandemic with a corrupt and inept President, feeling insecure about everything from our health to our jobs to where our next meals are going to come from. People are working essential jobs without hazard pay, hospitals are overcrowded, and it’s hard to function emotionally with all of the uncertainty.

And then there’s Meghan Jerrelle, a 30-year-old women from South Carolina who wanted to go shopping at Target for sunglasses with her friends. The trio just wanted to forget that social distancing is a necessity right now and that they aren’t better sheltering at home until they needed necessary supplies. This “tribe” of friends, as Jerrelle calls them, has become the focal point of public ire for not only their callous behavior but Jerrelle’s justification of the Target spree.

literally hope this bitch fucking [redacted] [redacted] corona [redacted] pic.twitter.com/wiVk95GVH7 — queen of bitch island (@kittynouveau) April 10, 2020

Look. There are so many areas of gray right now. And judgment is high. I feel guilty taking my toddler to a public park that’s mostly empty all the time. I know friends worry about getting take-out food or how often they should be going to the grocery. Some wear masks and gloves, others don’t.

There’s all sorts of conflicting information out there—but I can’t imagine why these women thought it was necessary to go shopping at Target and potentially expose employees who have no choice but to work. Go take a walk together six feet apart. Pour a chardonnay and go on Zoom or whatever you do. But don’t go shopping for fun at Target with two other people and no masks.

The controversy started when Jerrelle posted to Facebook that she was going to pretend “life is normal for an hour while we stroll Target, purchase all the essentials like sunglasses and snacks.”

“We’re celebrating friendship and living our best life in spite of everything going on in the world right now. We were all feeling the feels of quarantine and missing normal life so we decided to create our version of fun together and it’s been so good for our souls,” she also wrote. “Grateful for our tribe and how we love each other in the good times and the seasons of struggle.”

Instagram account TalkThirtyToMe published the post, calling the women “the new face of terrorism in the United States.” Critics were fast to call out Jerrelle and her friends for their careless behavior.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B–GDszJZej/

Jerrelle posted a response, which takes the situation to new levels of obnoxiousness. It turns out she’s an anti-vaxxer, which might explain her behavior at Target. And that she believes she is “too woke” to listen to “the government.”

“Oohhh the hate we get for going against the norm,” she begins, because she is still thirteen and raging against the machine. “I felt it when I started speaking out against vaccines. I felt it yesterday when I posted a picture of my tribe getting ready to take Target by storm during a time when the government suggests we stay home.”

Jerrelle, who sells essential oils and probably reads Ayn Rand, seems convinced she has done the hard labor of moving herself to a space of personal empowerment and no longer needs to listen to medical professionals. She felt it was important to go to Target with her friends for nonessential items, and that was all the affirmation she needed.

What do you think? Are we all being too judgmental or did Jerrelle and her friends act irresponsibly?