If you would have told me back in 2012 that I'd be writing a story about a couple of guys flashing the "Okay" hand gesture for a charity photo opp, I probably would have said "Great. That's awesome! In a nod to nostalgia, KOCO is rebranding to 5-Alive, and bringing back the thing where people wave "Okay" at TV cameras! Awesome!"
Unfortunately, we don't live in that utopian society.
Thanks to the efforts of right-wing message board losers, Qanon freaks, insurrectionists, skinheads, militiamen, facists, etc., the "Okay" hand gesture has transitioned from a harmless hand gesture to apparently a symbol for hate and white supremacy.
As a result, we have to talk about this now-deleted tweet that Lander's Chevrolet sent out last week.
For the most part, that seems pretty innocuous. We just have a local business presenting a $15,000 check to a school in the name of good PR. What's wrong with that?!
Well, if you zoom on the brosephs to the right...
First of all, can we all give out a big collective "Fuck You" to the losers who had to ruin the Okay symbol for the rest of us? We really need some rules for these culture wars. Even when it's allegedly done in jest, co-opting a common hand signal for any cause or movement, regardless of how positive or deranged that cause may be, is a line you just don't cross. Come up with original or cool hand signals like the Crips and Bloods did in the 1980s, asshats!
Second, can you get any more "Oklahoma Standard" than that photograph? I wonder if Landers stipulated the $15,000 has to be used to flush CRT education from the district?
Once the hand gestures were noticed late last week, the photo tore through the left-wing outrage social media echo chamber on Twitter.
For some reason, though, the local media in OKC has basically ignored it. That's kind of surprising. You'd think the TV news folks who love controversial stories that generate ratings and social media shares would flock to the dealership with cameras rolling, asking to speak with the employees who made the hand gestures, and trying to get to the bottom of what happened.
Then again, I think Landers Chevrolet spends a lot of money advertising with the local media, so this will probably get as much mainstream attention as the Bob Mills employee Border Wall or David Stanley's $350,000 fine for deceptive advertising,
Anyway, since there's been no follow-up media coverage, the details behind the photo are currently unknown. Questions like – "Who are the guys in the photo? Are they employees of Landers Chevrolet? Which Proud Boys chapter did they pledge to?" – are still unanswered. If you have any tips on that front, send them our way.
Stay with The Lost Ogle. We'll keep you advised.
