A parkgoer upset by a thoughtless gender reveal party in Yosemite National Park shared the aftermath on Reddit.
The complaint was posted in a subreddit that shares people doing the "worst of the worst." The post showed the pink defacing done to the natural landscape, albeit on snow, of one of the nation's most popular national parks, located in California.
"I think this counts as vandalism in a national park," one commenter wrote. "Which is a misdemeanor that is punishable by up to a $500 fine and up to 6 months in prison. TL;DR: They are federal criminals."
These tourons' disrespect affected at least one visitor's experience at the park, where interactions with nature and wildlife should lead to a greater understanding of the natural world and foster a desire to protect it, not abuse it.
Littering and disturbing the area for days if not weeks or more is exploitative and inhibits others' enjoyment of the park. It is also stressful for wildlife as well as the park rangers whose job it is to protect the ecosystem.
Gender reveal parties have been an especially troubling source of similarly careless misbehavior, and other documented obscene conduct, including performative stunts done for social media clout, has been dangerous and even deadly.
Many Redditors said the post lacked context and the pink substance was or could have been harmless, but a couple of users pointed out that visitors should leave no trace.
"It signals to other Tourons who are less aware that stupid s*** like this is ok to do in our National parks!" one said. "Get these idiots out of there I say and do that s*** in your backyard."
Other users were similarly outraged.
"People don't travel from around the world to Yosemite to see your BS and trash," someone wrote. "Do that s*** in your own backyard."
Another commenter said: "If I traveled 2500 miles to visit a 'pristine' yosemite and saw a gender reveal like that while im trying to channel my inner Muir, I would have ruined their day ensuring rangers fine them."
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