The Famous ‘Coronavirus Spring Breaker’ Has Offered A Seemingly Heartfelt Apology

Let’s be real, a good deal of us reacted in horror as we watched Brady Sluder — one of the many college kids who flocked to U.S. beaches for spring break in the middle of a global pandemic — respond to the coronavirus with little more than a shrug.

“If I get corona, I get corona. At the end of the day, I’m not going to let it stop me.”

Stop calling it “corona,” Brady! That beer has already suffered enough.

After a pretty sizable chunk of humanity saw Brady’s blunder a whole grip of us decided “yo, f*ck this kid,” and Sluder has since been one of the faces of the #COVIDIOTS hashtag. Millennials everywhere, for the first time, tried to separate themselves from the obnoxiously named “Zoomers” (don’t let this be a thing) by claiming to be of an older generation.

https://twitter.com/CoderaThe1/status/1241164249931497472

Brady’s behavior was grossly irresponsible, and this week The Hill has confirmed that at least five students returning to the University of Tampa in Florida have tested positive for the coronavirus. Considering it takes anywhere between 2-14 days for those carrying the virus to show symptoms, this is undoubtedly, just the beginning.

But everyone needs to just chill and remember that’s it’s incredibly easy to direct the anger that we’re all feeling in this moment at some kid who said/ did a stupid thing. It’s immediate and visceral — feelings that are in short supply these quarantined days — and it’s a hell of a lot easier than directing our anger at the obviously flailing economic system we live under that behaves more short-sighted and irresponsible than Brady Sluder on his worst day. Way easier.

But unlike, say, America’s scions of finance, Brady has at the least apologized for being a dummy, and while that doesn’t make him a hero, it makes him human. Like you and me.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-C2M7knHvx/

“I would sincerely apologize for the insensitive comment I made in regards to COVID-19 while on spring break.” Begins Brady in an Instagram post addressing his now-viral moment, “I wasn’t aware of the severity of my actions and comments.” The most interesting bit of Brady’s apology is in the photo’s caption, a sort of call-to-arms (albeit a defeated one) to anyone else who thinks we shouldn’t take this virus seriously,

“I’m not asking for your forgiveness or pity. I want to use this as motivation to become a better person, a better son, a better friend, and a better citizen. Listen to your communities and do as health officials say. Life is precious. Don’t be arrogant and think you’re invincible like myself.”

Now maybe we can spend less time hating people we’ve never met and direct our energy into helping those around us.