Maine Lobster Festival Strips Sea Goddess, 18, of Crown Over 'Inappropriate' Social Media Photos

[oberliner]

Taylor Hamlin dreamed of winning the Maine Lobster Festival’s prestigious Maine Sea Goddess pageant since she was a little girl, but two social media photos deemed “inappropriate” by competition officials would cause the 18 year old to be stripped of the title just 24 hours after she was crowned.

The problematic pictures in question? Hamlin tells PEOPLE one snapshot shows the teenager with a marijuana cigarette, while another depicted her holding a juuling device (or e-cigarette).

Both surfaced on Wednesday, after Hamlin’s coronation ceremony. By Thursday, the executive board of directors and the coronation committee of the Maine Lobster Festival had made the announcement that Hamlin would no longer represent the 71-year-old celebration, saying the images “were not in keeping with the behavior and image of the Maine Sea Goddess.”

“I was really upset,” Hamlin tells PEOPLE of the decision. “It’s been tough. I never thought that this would happen. They told me it was disgusting and they’re disappointed. The whole thing made me feel really terrible about myself.”

https://people.com/human-interest/maine-lobster-festival-replaces-sea-goddess-social-media-photos/

[bitterross]

1. Because nobody on lobster boats uses drugs

It took be less than 5 seconds to find this:

https://tonic.vice.com/en_us/article/ev43gk/the-men-who-catch-your-lobsters-are-self-medicating-with-heroin

https://www.pressherald.com/2017/04/02/lobstermen-under-siege-heroin-epidemic-feeds-on-an-iconic-way-of-life/

I actually googled "lobster boat meth problem" guessing that the long hours they have to work without sleep would push them toward meth and other stimulants. The articles on heroin came up instead.

[customerserviceguy]

2. Moral of the story

Don't let people photograph you while doing something that could make a problem for you. It eventually will make its way to social media. Thank goodness, being retired, I don't have that problem any more.