‘You’re the worst’: Selfie of friends on plane sparks outrage
Three women have caused an uproar after posting a selfie of them on a plane in Europe.
Charisse Burchett posted the picture on social media last week of the women on a plane bound for the UK from Berlin.
While it would otherwise appear to be an innocent photo of friends excited for a trip, the trio have been criticised for not wearing a mask and bragging about it on Twitter.
“We had a 10 Brit maskless stand off at Berlin airport.....police and authorities could not make us wear masks....our last protest on German soil I love this cheeky photo,” Ms Burchett wrote.
Thousands of people flooded her post criticising the women for flouting coronavirus rules, with Europe exceeding 150,000 new coronavirus cases in a single day after countries including France, Italy and Germany reporting record daily numbers of infections during the past week.
The grim milestone comes a week after Europe was experiencing 100,000 daily cases, highlighting the accelerating nature of the continent’s second wave.
“Imagine being so selfish AND so self-absorbed as to advertise it,” one commented on the photo.
“I wonder if any of these people have actually been touched by the death of a friend or family member who has died with Covid,” another said.
“You are the worst of this country,” a third added.
Ms Burchett, an anti-vaccine activist from Britain, hit back saying they had medical exemptions and were “exercising our human rights”, however people still dubbed the behaviour unacceptable.
“Disgraceful. The complete lack of awareness and thought for others whose lives you are putting at risk. Utterly selfish and despicable,” one commented.
“Congratulations on going into someone else’s country, disrespecting them and embarrassing us,” another said.
Story behind plane selfie
On Sunday, Ms Burchett defended the photo in a lengthy Facebook post that also explained what occurred at the airport in the lead-up to her posting the picture.
“We had been through a stressful time at the airport. One friend had trouble with her booking, then we were stopped by police and asked why we weren’t wearing masks in the terminal,” she said.
“They did not accept our medical exemptions so I walked away ... my friend then was singled out and searched because she wasn’t wearing a mask.
“In the departure lounge/gate we saw some other Brits without masks and we sat with them...a chap did all the talking and was very brave.
“He stood his ground and inspired us to be brave as then we had lots of police and officials all stood over us intimidating us.”
She added a man who worked with their airline checked their medical exemptions and deemed them fine to travel.
“We then were relieved to be out of that tense situation...and then my friend papped a lovely picture. Then everyone on the flight removed masks to eat and drink proving this isn’t about contagion it’s about control,” she said.
Ms Burchett added she was proud they stood their ground in a “frightening”situation.
She added she had no regrets about the situation and her views.
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