A Local Story of Wokeness, Cancel Culture, and Human Decency
This incident occured on November 12, 2022 and I wrote this over the following 2 days.
I wouldn’t be able to pinpoint the beginnings of Cancel Culture or Wokeness, but it does feel like the last four years have exacerbated our society’s use of these words. Cancel culture is currently broadly defined as a willing and purposeful intent to effectively erase a person or concept from the fabric of our everyday lives; an ostracism or forced exile of sorts. Wokeness originated as a political term to indicate one’s dedication to social justice. The right, however, has weaponized it as a weakness or political correctness that inhibits the so-called freedoms of those who pride themselves on being able to say or do what they want without any sort of repercussions.
On Thursday these terms were thrown across the political and cultural divide in our small town surrounding a post made by our own self-made food critic, Ken Peng of Ken Eats Gainesville. Peng posted a photo of his Publix receipt for a sub sandwich with the following note for the employees of the Publix Deli:
I yearn for a long & hard 12 inches of sultry poultry bathing in a warm creamy bath of buffalo sauce. Why don’t you put on some black pepper to spice up the mood? Hot sticky cheese pressed together between hot tight buns. I can taste it now. Mmm yes.
The photo was captioned with “I can’t tell if the older lady at the Deli appreciated this not…” The post quickly went viral (note: I was one of a few that re-posted the story with some choice language that I don’t necessarily apologize for, but maybe do regret). Many in our community called the post disgusting and gross example of sexual harassment. Others came to Ken’s defense arguing that it was just a joke and no harm was intended. Peng himself defended himself later writing that he had been “dragged through mud by the cancel culture mob.” He goes on to write that he would apologize to the Publix employee if they came forward, but that perhaps that isn’t even enough for the “woke mob.” He announced the shutdown of his food blog and social media and signed off by congratulating the “downtown hipsters” for their victory.
There are plenty of places on the internet that argue about what exactly Cancel Culture is, whether it’s a force for good or evil. You can read dozens of think pieces about the politicization of wokeness and its evolution into a weapon of sarcasm. So I will not attempt to re-invent that wheel here. But what struck me most about Peng’s so-called apology and his initial post is the erasure of the Publix employee(s) and their experience in this situation. Peng was acutely aware that his post might offend the employee. He states in the caption he is not sure whether or not the employee appreciated his comment. If it was simply a joke, as he stated in several different social media posts, and that he is confused that the description of his sandwich could have any other connotations than just being a sandwich, why would he be so unsure of how the Publix employee would feel about his “joke?” And if it didn’t have any other connotations, then why would you call it a joke? This situation isn’t about wokeness or even joke interpretation. It’s about basic human decency. Even if you are so naive to think a post like that could not possibly be offensive to the completely powerless recipient, basic human decency should dictate that if it’s offensiveness is pointed out to you, you possibly owe them an apology. There are any number of reasons that employee never said anything to Peng. Publix employees are coached to treat all customers with respect, even the worst ones. A very natural human response to an uncomfortable situation is to laugh it off. It diffuses tension and minimizes danger of retribution or further aggression. Again, I could wax and wane about the politics of power in situations like this, but honestly, I hope that we can all see that treating someone like a human being is apolitical and just the right thing to do.
I don’t know what will come of Ken Eats Gainesville or Mr. Peng in our community. I hope that he finds it in himself to actually apologize to all of the Publix employees. But also to our community at large. This wasn’t an isolated incident, many people bravely walked out of the shadows to share their experiences with Peng that offended them, made them feel unsafe, or simply disappointed them. I really do believe the way out of the last four years is human decency AND righteous indignation. You can hold both in your hand and do some good work to repair our bonds as human beings and as a community.
