Was #braeheadfail an Issue of Perceptions?

Unrelated picture of my child eating ice cream

Braehead fail
Unless you have been hiding under the only rock that doesn't have wi-fi you will have seen something of the story about what happened when a parent took pictures of a child in a Scottish shopping centre.

The furious parent posted the sorry tale on Facebook and all it took was one damp Sunday afternoon to go viral. 

I have started to be just as alarmed by the phenomena of the virtual viral as I am of the real one. Neither seem to be entirely logical nor is there much of a cure. 
As far as I can see when something "goes viral" it is spread - like an infection - from one person who doesn't know the whole story to the next. It's so easy to click a story onward and outward with a quick "goodness, that's terrible, now what's for tea?". 
You don't really know the whole story, the other side of the story or even if it's a true story. Remember the Gay Girl In Damascus? 
In this case what happened in Braehead, actually happened as it was told, but I do think that perhaps a little distortion by assumption was going on. 

Let me explain. I read the Facebook post and got to this bit: 

"Walking down the shopping mall a man approached me from behind as I was carrying my daughter in my arms. He came from behind me, cutting in front of me and told me to stop. That was quite a shock as I am wary of people with crew cuts and white shirts suddenly appearing in front of me, but then realised he was a security guard.
"He then said I had been spotted taking photos in the shopping centre which was 'illegal' and not allowed and then asked me to delete any photos I had taken. I explained I had taken 2 photos of my daughter eating ice cream and that she was the only person in the photo so didn't see any problem. i also said that I wasn't that willing to delete the photo's and there seemed little point as I had actually uploaded them to facebook.
"He then said i would have to stay right where I was while he called the police, which seemed as little extreme. My daughter was crying by this stage, but I said that was fine I would wait and began to comfort my daughter who was saying she didn't like the man and wanted to go. After about 5 minutes two police officers arrived."
OK, so far so shocking. In my mind's eye there is a mother with a little girl - small enough to carry - who is sobbing. I know the shopping centre with it's harsh lighting and marble floors. I can see it in my head. Right, then the story goes on to tell of bewildered parent, distressed child and illogial and authoritarian people in uniform. But then I discovered that it wasn't a mum but a dad. I had made the wrong assumption. In the early stages of this story being passed on Twitter and Facebook, I wasn't alone. 
So now we're clear who the story is about, go back and read that bit again, only it's a dad with a daughter. Does it make a difference? What about in the subsequent sections?"The older police officer was actually quite intimidating in his nature. He said that there had been a complaint about me taking photos and that there were clear signs in Braehead shopping centre saying that no photographs were allowed. I tried to explain that I hadn't seen any clearly displayed signs and that I had taken 2 photos of my daughter.

"As i was trying to explain he said I was interrupting him and that I should remain quiet until he had finished speaking to me. Not wanting to distress my daughter further, and to allow him to finish I let him continue. At one stage i was reassuring my daughter that everything was okay, only to be told I wasn't listening by the officer.

"Once he had finished, i then started to explain again my situation, only for the officer to start speaking again. Apparently different rules of respect apply when someone other than a police officer is speaking. I explained that that far from being aggressive when the security guard came over, the way he approached me was threatening and intimidating.

"I was told that was my word against his. Although this didn't seem to be the case when the security guard alleged that I was threatening when I had a 4 year old in my arms and waited patiently for the police to arrive."

How different is the movie in your mind when it's a dad to when it's a mum?

Clearly what happened to this dad was shocking and the idea of it being illegal to take pictures of your own kids is a nonsense. The shopping centre, after a text-book example of how not to handle a PR crisis, has come good, apologised and changed the rule. 

What I'm fascinated by is whether the furore would have happened if the gender of the parent was obvious from the off. Rightly or wrongly, I suspect not.