Mani
07-16-2014, 10:32 PM
I just completed my 2 weeks in the place referred by some authorities as the war zone.
Just a few thoughts on the place I used to call home. My last few trips have been 4-5 day trips back to the US, so they were a blur. Between the 14 hour flights, 1-2 days of activities, and flight back, I couldn't function much.
This is the first time in 3 years I spent a signification chunk of time back in the U.S. And there was something odd that seemed out of place that I don't remember growing up.
There were police, EVERYWHERE.
We talk about it, but for the first time I actually noticed it. The number of cops or cop cars I saw was so high I lost count. After 20 I couldn't keep track, it may have been 40..I don't know, it was a lot.
On one particular stretch of 60 miles on the interstate between IL and WI, I saw 4 cop cars. I didn't notice how many on the way to Chicago because I was with someone talking, but on the way back i was alone and turned off the radio (I had recorded one of the world cup games so went completely dark), and THAT'S when I became more aware of my surroundings. Every 10-20 miles a cop had pulled someone on the side of the road, or they were hiding under a bridge, ramp, or behind construction.
Then I started paying more attention during the rest of the trip, and it was constant. Not just the interstate, but driving through a small town couple times we saw cops perched and waiting. Then driving through suburbs, they were there. Driving around downtown Chicago, pretty much everywhere. Anywhere, always cops were around.
One time pulling over for gas in a normal looking neighborhood, there was a car pulled over on the side of the road, and a guy slightly disheveled sitting nearby the gas station. A cop showed up while we were finishing up, and starts talking to the guy, I noticed while talking to this guy (who just looked like a blue collar type), the cop has his hand on his fire-arm during the conversation. We pull away and I'm watching, WTF does the cop need to have his hand at the ready holding his fire-arm????
The guy looked pretty normal, his body language was very subdued and obedient looking, this did not look like a dangerous or hostile situation. I found it bizarre.
When driving on the interstate I saw a sign during construction "speeding fines are doubled", well there was a cop driving pretty fast and we move over to the slow lane to get out of his way (this happened a couple times on the trip). This particular time, the cop starts tailgating a car. He's right on their ass for what seems like a minute. The construction area was just about to end and the cop puts his lights on right before and pulls the car over. Literally 30 seconds later they would have been out of the construction zone....No one was speeding, everyone was driving slow, but maybe the car in front of the cop picked up his speed a few ticks or panicked with a cop riding his ass. I just commented on the "Revenue generation..." that cop was fulfilling. Double speeding fines! He had to quickly snare someone seconds before that sign ends. It was rather obvious that was his tactic.
Luckily I saw no beatings or attacks, and it was thankfully uneventful.
But man, it was alarming seeing cops pretty much EVERYWHERE. Like EVERYWHERE! As in, EVERYWHERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It was definitely not like that when I was growing up, where there are more cops on the street than fast food restaurants.
I was thankful flying out, felt a bit more free...Hahaha..The irony.
Just a few thoughts on the place I used to call home. My last few trips have been 4-5 day trips back to the US, so they were a blur. Between the 14 hour flights, 1-2 days of activities, and flight back, I couldn't function much.
This is the first time in 3 years I spent a signification chunk of time back in the U.S. And there was something odd that seemed out of place that I don't remember growing up.
There were police, EVERYWHERE.
We talk about it, but for the first time I actually noticed it. The number of cops or cop cars I saw was so high I lost count. After 20 I couldn't keep track, it may have been 40..I don't know, it was a lot.
On one particular stretch of 60 miles on the interstate between IL and WI, I saw 4 cop cars. I didn't notice how many on the way to Chicago because I was with someone talking, but on the way back i was alone and turned off the radio (I had recorded one of the world cup games so went completely dark), and THAT'S when I became more aware of my surroundings. Every 10-20 miles a cop had pulled someone on the side of the road, or they were hiding under a bridge, ramp, or behind construction.
Then I started paying more attention during the rest of the trip, and it was constant. Not just the interstate, but driving through a small town couple times we saw cops perched and waiting. Then driving through suburbs, they were there. Driving around downtown Chicago, pretty much everywhere. Anywhere, always cops were around.
One time pulling over for gas in a normal looking neighborhood, there was a car pulled over on the side of the road, and a guy slightly disheveled sitting nearby the gas station. A cop showed up while we were finishing up, and starts talking to the guy, I noticed while talking to this guy (who just looked like a blue collar type), the cop has his hand on his fire-arm during the conversation. We pull away and I'm watching, WTF does the cop need to have his hand at the ready holding his fire-arm????
The guy looked pretty normal, his body language was very subdued and obedient looking, this did not look like a dangerous or hostile situation. I found it bizarre.
When driving on the interstate I saw a sign during construction "speeding fines are doubled", well there was a cop driving pretty fast and we move over to the slow lane to get out of his way (this happened a couple times on the trip). This particular time, the cop starts tailgating a car. He's right on their ass for what seems like a minute. The construction area was just about to end and the cop puts his lights on right before and pulls the car over. Literally 30 seconds later they would have been out of the construction zone....No one was speeding, everyone was driving slow, but maybe the car in front of the cop picked up his speed a few ticks or panicked with a cop riding his ass. I just commented on the "Revenue generation..." that cop was fulfilling. Double speeding fines! He had to quickly snare someone seconds before that sign ends. It was rather obvious that was his tactic.
Luckily I saw no beatings or attacks, and it was thankfully uneventful.
But man, it was alarming seeing cops pretty much EVERYWHERE. Like EVERYWHERE! As in, EVERYWHERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It was definitely not like that when I was growing up, where there are more cops on the street than fast food restaurants.
I was thankful flying out, felt a bit more free...Hahaha..The irony.