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Cissy
08-23-2014, 09:05 AM
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/lovejoyfeminism/2014/08/what-i-learned-from-almost-being-arrested.html


Almost three years ago I had a severely unpleasant experience with a police officer that left me completely shaken. Up until this point, I’d been given no reason to distrust cops. Ever since this moment, though, I’ve understood why many people have their reservations. If I could have an experience like this—and I’m white, educated, and middle class—I can’t imagine how much worse it must be for those who are black, or poor, or in another marginalized group. As protests continue in Ferguson, my mind has gone back to this experience, and how it affected me.

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I was on a grocery run to Walmart. I had two-year-old Sally with me and was visibly pregnant with Bobby. Sean was still at work, and it was winter so it was dark out even though it wasn’t all that late. I parked, went into the store, and filled a cart with eggs, milk, flour, and other things we needed. As I finished checking out, I heard the loudspeaker asking for someone with the same name as my husband to come out to his car, because there was a problem. And then I realized—the loudspeaker was calling for me, because our car was in my husband’s name. I hurried out to the car wondering what could have happened.

There, at the car, was a police officer and an older woman. The officer informed me that I had hit the other woman’s car, which was directly in front of my car in the next spot, when parking. I was doubtful, though careful to be polite and deferential. The officer showed me the bumpers of the car, which appeared, in the darkness, to be touching, or nearly so. I assured him that I had not felt any impact when parking. The car had not rolled back, or jerked, or anything—nothing had felt out of the ordinary. Again I was careful to be polite and deferential, but I was growing increasingly frightened by the officer’s demeanor. He was antagonistic, he clearly didn’t believe me, and he looked ready to book me. The vibes coming from him surprised me. I was afraid. I had never been afraid of a police officer before. Sally shivered in the grocery cart beside me, wrapped snugly in her coat but still cold in the winter weather.

Satisfied that everyone had gotten a good look at the cars’ bumpers, the officer told the other woman to pull her car back a few feet. He then had each of us inspect her bumper, using his flashlight. There was not a scratch, not a dent, not a mark—nothing. The officer grudgingly admitted that I had not actually hit the woman’s car.

“If there had been even the smallest scratch,” he told me, “I would be taking you downtown right now for a hit and run.”

The officer was very clearly disappointed that he could not arrest me. I puzzled over this for weeks afterwards, because it shocked me. This man wanted a reason to arrest me, and I could not understand why. I still don’t understand why, but I remember how shaken I was as I watched the officer walk away. I wondered what would have happened to Sally if he had arrested me. Would she have ridden with me downtown in the officer’s car? Would they have tried to locate hy husband? Would social services have been called?

I was shaking as I loaded Sally and the groceries into our car. I cried—sobbed—as I drove to pick Sean up from work. I called my sister in tears, because I absolutely had to talk to someone, I felt so sick. I’m kind of surprised I didn’t throw up. As I’m typing this now, there are tears running down my cheeks from simply remembering—and reliving—the emotions I experienced. I was so shaken.

Of course, some of this was the doing of the woman who called the cops—the owner of the other car. She was very very angry herself, and had called the officer out on a cold evening solely on the basis of her bumper and my bumper being so close they looked like they were touching. There was no dent, nothing was smashed, and as we saw when she eventually pulled her car forward there wasn’t even a scratch or the tiniest mark. She said she was upset because she couldn’t load her groceries into her trunk, but then it’s rarely easy to load your groceries into your trunk when you back in, as she had. She probably gave the officer an earful and that may have contributed to his mood. But that didn’t make how he treated me okay—he was the professional.

I really don’t have anything to complain about, I realize that. I’m white, educated, and middle class. I’m at very low risk of being harassed or harmed by the police. I’m not trying to tell some sort of “woe is me” sob story when so many people have it far, far worse. I’m also not saying that all police officers are like this. What I am saying is that this very unpleasant brush with police has helped me understand what the people in Ferguson and elsewhere are talking about.

Read more: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/lovejoyfeminism/2014/08/what-i-learned-from-almost-being-arrested.html#ixzz3BECC3HcY

69360
08-23-2014, 10:29 AM
Typical white guilt. Because a suburban soccer mom has so much in common with those in the ghetto. Crap like this recent looting and burning brings out the worst of it.

phill4paul
08-23-2014, 10:34 AM
Typical white guilt. Because a suburban soccer mom has so much in common with those in the ghetto. Crap like this recent looting and burning brings out the worst of it.

:rolleyes:

Encounters with cops can turn sideways in a heart beat...for anyone. This is what she was pointing out. She is absolutely correct.

thoughtomator
08-23-2014, 10:41 AM
Note that the person driving the situation was not a police officer, but yet another female looking to have violence done on her behalf.

Perhaps it's time we start treating "females who love to sic the police on people" as a serious issue.

youngbuck
08-23-2014, 11:10 AM
I wasn't so naive even at the age of 10, and people like her breed. And what makes somebody so emotionally volatile as to break down in tears over something like that? Wake up, woman, the world can be scary place outside of your bubble. Sorry, no sympathy from me.

invisible
08-23-2014, 11:27 AM
Typical white guilt. Because a suburban soccer mom has so much in common with those in the ghetto. Crap like this recent looting and burning brings out the worst of it.

Ok, since you keep making broad brush references to residents of "the ghetto", I'm going to call this out. I remember you telling a story here about your own encounter with the cops near your home. I also remember you talking about how you moved to ME instead of NH because it was cheaper, and buying a trailer instead of a house because it was cheaper. Your decision is no different than that of people who chose to live cheaply in an urban area. How would you feel if people painted YOU with the same broad brush that you keep trying to paint others with, and had repeatedly responded to your own cop encounter story with comments like "it serves you right, because you're only trailer trash"? Or perhaps "this wouldn't have happened to you if you had bought a nice house in Stephen King's neighborhood, because only criminals and lowlifes live in trailers"? Sounds to me like you have more in common with those who live in the ghetto than not. The only difference is that your own personal circumstance of a semi-rural ghetto is only one small notch above those who live in an urban ghetto, and that you try very hard to make yourself out to be better than others who have made a very similar decision to your own. Please explain why living in a trailer makes you any better than someone who lives in an urban setting.

69360
08-23-2014, 01:08 PM
Ok, since you keep making broad brush references to residents of "the ghetto", I'm going to call this out. I remember you telling a story here about your own encounter with the cops near your home. I also remember you talking about how you moved to ME instead of NH because it was cheaper, and buying a trailer instead of a house because it was cheaper. Your decision is no different than that of people who chose to live cheaply in an urban area. How would you feel if people painted YOU with the same broad brush that you keep trying to paint others with, and had repeatedly responded to your own cop encounter story with comments like "it serves you right, because you're only trailer trash"? Or perhaps "this wouldn't have happened to you if you had bought a nice house in Stephen King's neighborhood, because only criminals and lowlifes live in trailers"? Sounds to me like you have more in common with those who live in the ghetto than not. The only difference is that your own personal circumstance of a semi-rural ghetto is only one small notch above those who live in an urban ghetto, and that you try very hard to make yourself out to be better than others who have made a very similar decision to your own. Please explain why living in a trailer makes you any better than someone who lives in an urban setting.

King's house is in Bangor which is actually a ghetto in places. I wouldn't live there if you paid me to.

We don't shoot loot and burn where I live. It's safe with very little crime per capita. That's the difference.

I'm sure if you asked inner city ghetto residents if they wanted to live there, they would say no. If you ask people here if they wanted to live here, they would say absolutely.

Nowhere is perfect cops shoot people everywhere. Usually it's justified, sometimes it isn't. Most cops are decent, some aren't. Just like any location or occupation.

But when you consistently have high crime in a concentrated inner city area, it is indeed a ghetto. That's the uncomfortable truth.

As I am typing this I can here somebody firing off rounds with a semi-auto down the road and I am sure it's just target practice, in the ghetto it's more likely a drive by if you heard that.

invisible
08-23-2014, 01:39 PM
King's house is in Bangor which is actually a ghetto in places. I wouldn't live there if you paid me to.

We don't shoot loot and burn where I live. It's safe with very little crime per capita. That's the difference.

I'm sure if you asked inner city ghetto residents if they wanted to live there, they would say no. If you ask people here if they wanted to live here, they would say absolutely.

Nowhere is perfect cops shoot people everywhere. Usually it's justified, sometimes it isn't. Most cops are decent, some aren't. Just like any location or occupation.

But when you consistently have high crime in a concentrated inner city area, it is indeed a ghetto. That's the uncomfortable truth.

As I am typing this I can here somebody firing off rounds with a semi-auto down the road and I am sure it's just target practice, in the ghetto it's more likely a drive by if you heard that.


The "ghetto" starts about 3 blocks from Stephen King's house, not in his immediate neighborhood.
There's very little crime in the "ghetto" I live in, we don't loot and burn things here either.
I'm sure if you asked people who live in trailers if they'd rather live in a house, they'd say yes. If you asked anyone if they wanted to live in a better neighborhood than the one they currently do, they'd say absolutely.
How do you know that someone is only target practicing down the road? A semi-rural location is a great place to murder someone, with no witnesses around.
The uncomfortable truth here is that a trailer on a semi-rural plot of land IS considered a "ghetto" in northern new england. Why did you choose to live in the northern new england version of a ghetto, rather than buy a place somewhere civilized, like Bar Harbor, Hampden, or Rockingham County NH? Again, you haven't explained why you're better than anyone else who chooses not to live in one of those three places.

69360
08-23-2014, 07:11 PM
I live in one of those civilized places actually FWIW. A midcoast coastal town. It's actually very nice here, I'm 4 miles from the ocean on a private 2 acre lot with the nearest neighbor 1/4 mile away and protected nature preserve on 3 sides. You can't see the home from the road. My land value is many times the home value. I'm either building a house on the land or upgrading to a foreclosed house I have my eye on in the spring. It's a $400k house in a private community that is on the market now for $79k because it needs a few things. Buying the place I have now was the best move I could have made, it got me out of the craphole that PA became with no mortgage payment.

People here like the trailers because they are well insulated and cheap to heat. There is no social stigma to a nicely kept trailer on a well kept lot. In some cases it's seen as preferable. It costs about $1000 a year to heat vs. an old drafty house that can cost you as much as $10,000 a year to heat. Bar Harbor is nice but I wouldn't want to live there, it's too touristy. Rockingham county NH might as well be Masshole, that's who lives there.

You can twist this around as much you like but you are still wrong. No person in his right mind thinks of where I live as a ghetto. If you want to characterize a trailer park as a ghetto, then sure.

Maine is 50th in the country for violent crime per capita. You literally can not live in a safer place in the US. So your theory of rural murders is complete crap.

http://www.census.gov/statab/ranks/rank21.html


Oh and Hampden is kind of dumpy for the most part. Some people that work in Bangor built nice homes there but it's still not so hot in most places. I wouldn't live there.

Anti Federalist
08-23-2014, 07:27 PM
Note that the person driving the situation was not a police officer, but yet another female looking to have violence done on her behalf.

Perhaps it's time we start treating "females who love to sic the police on people" as a serious issue.

There is something to be said about that.

Be be prepared to be denounced as a sexist, misogynistic, neck bearded, mouth breathing, knuckle dragging Neanderthal however.

Anti Federalist
08-23-2014, 07:31 PM
Having lived in both Maine and New Hampshire, for almost twenty years now, I cannot for the life of me figure the math that says living in Maine is cheaper or even comparable to living in New Hampshire.

Just the savings on yearly vehicle excise taxation saved hundreds of dollars each year.

fisharmor
08-23-2014, 07:56 PM
Perhaps it's time we start treating "females who love to sic the police on people" as a serious issue.

http://www.freerangekids.com/to-the-man-who-called-the-police-on-2-little-girls-instead-of-calling-their-parents/

At least in our case, the asshole who did it got two separate subpoenas.
I still have a small amount of faith that getting shoved around by the legal system for two separate trials will have taught him something by the end.

69360
08-23-2014, 08:26 PM
Having lived in both Maine and New Hampshire, for almost twenty years now, I cannot for the life of me figure the math that says living in Maine is cheaper or even comparable to living in New Hampshire.

Just the savings on yearly vehicle excise taxation saved hundreds of dollars each year.

I don't own any cars new enough to cost hundreds in excise tax. Property taxes were $800 but now are $600 since I qualified for the homestead rebate after a year. Life is really the way it's supposed to be. NH doesn't have some taxes but makes up for it with the 3rd highest property taxes in the country. But I won't knock NH it's a good place to live besides the obvious masshole counties on the border.

extortion17
08-23-2014, 08:37 PM
Note that the person driving the situation was not a police officer, but yet another female looking to have violence done on her behalf.

Perhaps it's time we start treating "females who love to sic the police on people" as a serious issue.

It happens all the time . . .
I was using a clear wine bottle for hot water to melt some ice around a PODs storage container that was being picked up -
the lovely girl in the apt downstairs called out a swat team since she told them I was drinking vodka outside her apartment
(btw, she had a Hilary sticker in her window - primaries of 2007-2008) I talked to the Sergeant and they all felt like jerks.

So . . . "females who love to sic the police on people" - happens all the time.

PaulConventionWV
08-24-2014, 07:18 AM
It happens all the time . . .
I was using a clear wine bottle for hot water to melt some ice around a PODs storage container that was being picked up -
the lovely girl in the apt downstairs called out a swat team since she told them I was drinking vodka outside her apartment
(btw, she had a Hilary sticker in her window - primaries of 2007-2008) I talked to the Sergeant and they all felt like jerks.

So . . . "females who love to sic the police on people" - happens all the time.

The question is... why? Why do we always have a woman around who calls the police to report literally anything she sees? Younger, older, middle-aged... they all love to call the police over the tiniest little things and they don't seem to realize the harm it does. I bet hundreds of little old ladies down the street who have grandchildren and bake cookies are responsible for the deaths of some young person for contempt of cop. It's so frustrating to think that these people think they're doing a service to society. If only they could see what pain they cause.

invisible
08-24-2014, 08:54 AM
I live in one of those civilized places actually FWIW. A midcoast coastal town. It's actually very nice here, I'm 4 miles from the ocean on a private 2 acre lot with the nearest neighbor 1/4 mile away and protected nature preserve on 3 sides. You can't see the home from the road. My land value is many times the home value. I'm either building a house on the land or upgrading to a foreclosed house I have my eye on in the spring. It's a $400k house in a private community that is on the market now for $79k because it needs a few things. Buying the place I have now was the best move I could have made, it got me out of the craphole that PA became with no mortgage payment.

People here like the trailers because they are well insulated and cheap to heat. There is no social stigma to a nicely kept trailer on a well kept lot. In some cases it's seen as preferable. It costs about $1000 a year to heat vs. an old drafty house that can cost you as much as $10,000 a year to heat. Bar Harbor is nice but I wouldn't want to live there, it's too touristy. Rockingham county NH might as well be Masshole, that's who lives there.

You can twist this around as much you like but you are still wrong. No person in his right mind thinks of where I live as a ghetto. If you want to characterize a trailer park as a ghetto, then sure.

Maine is 50th in the country for violent crime per capita. You literally can not live in a safer place in the US. So your theory of rural murders is complete crap.

http://www.census.gov/statab/ranks/rank21.html


Oh and Hampden is kind of dumpy for the most part. Some people that work in Bangor built nice homes there but it's still not so hot in most places. I wouldn't live there.


Some people choose to live in "the ghetto" because it it cheap to do so.
You choose to live in a trailer because it is cheap to do so.
There are people, you being one of them, who assume that people who live in "the ghetto" are criminals and lowlifes.
There are people who assume that people who live in trailers are criminals and lowlifes.
You don't like when people make the same assumption about you, that you make about others.
The assumption that you make about others is no more valid than people making the very same assumption about you.

What exactly am I twisting here? Please, explain to me where I am wrong in any of this.

thoughtomator
08-24-2014, 09:01 AM
There is something to be said about that.

Be be prepared to be denounced as a sexist, misogynistic, neck bearded, mouth breathing, knuckle dragging Neanderthal however.

Been there, done that. Not anywhere near as scary as it sounds.

Though so far, all I've gotten is enthusiastic agreement. Women know it's true just as much as men do.

69360
08-24-2014, 09:04 AM
Some people choose to live in "the ghetto" because it it cheap to do so.
You choose to live in a trailer because it is cheap to do so.
There are people, you being one of them, who assume that people who live in "the ghetto" are criminals and lowlifes.
There are people who assume that people who live in trailers are criminals and lowlifes.
You don't like when people make the same assumption about you, that you make about others.
The assumption that you make about others is no more valid than people making the very same assumption about you.

What exactly am I twisting here? Please, explain to me where I am wrong in any of this.

Nobody chooses to live in a crime ridden inner city ghetto vs. the lowest crime per capita state in the country. Style of the building has nothing to do with anything. I'm done replying to you.

invisible
08-24-2014, 09:06 AM
Nobody chooses to live in a crime ridden inner city ghetto vs. the lowest crime per capita state in the country. Style of the building has nothing to do with anything. I'm done replying to you.

No, go ahead! What exactly am I twisting, here? What am I wrong about?

moostraks
08-24-2014, 09:30 AM
Nobody chooses to live in a crime ridden inner city ghetto vs. the lowest crime per capita state in the country. Style of the building has nothing to do with anything. I'm done replying to you.

And you would be wrong here. Not everyone wants to live in a trailer in ME. Some people are city folks. Some don't want to maintain larger properties. Some want to be near a variety of employment opportunities. I have no interest in living in a trailer and since I spend 95% of my life at home I wouldn't live in that style of building, not now or ever by choice past or future. I have 8 children and live in a roughly 5000 sq foot century double brick home. We homeschool so we need lots of space for all the things I have collected with educating and our large book collection. A trailer would not cut it. All statistics are not equal. Crime ridden involves some awareness of what the crime is and where is it located at relative to one's option for housing.

Liberty is for everyone, and just because a particular situation works for you does not mean it works for everyone. Peer pressure is a dumb way to convince people of the value of liberty imo. It would be nice if the narrow minded could learn to be more tolerant of other people's choices...

Ronin Truth
08-24-2014, 10:47 AM
What I Learned from Almost Being Arrested

That I don't want to be arrested.

thoughtomator
08-24-2014, 10:54 AM
For a single person or a dedicated couple a trailer can be a very good option, especially if you love nature.

From experience I can tell you that an old trailer out in the woods can easily provide a higher quality of life than a luxury apartment in the city. I've done both, and the former has virtues the latter simply can't match - peace and quiet, fresh air, clean water, plenty of sunshine, no jerks in your face the moment you step out the door, no constant rumbling of engines or any of those other city things that build up stress.

I firmly believe that other than for cultural/artistic reasons, there really is no good reason to live in a city anymore. Technology has advanced to the point where you can live just as high-tech a life in the boondocks as you can on Fifth Avenue NYC.

Thor
08-24-2014, 11:04 AM
See, the problem here is 2 fold. 1 is the high strung, ready and looking for a reason "peace officer" (swat team, etc)

The other is the fucking libtards that "see something say something" at the drop of a feather.

Oh, she hit my car... no she didn't you stupid fuck.
Oh, he has a rifle... no you moron, it is an umbrella.
Oh, she had a pistol... no you doorknob, it was a drill.
Oh, their grass is too long...
Oh, their not watering their lawn and it is brown....

So we have a police state emerging, fueled by busy body retards making use of the police state... So even if we curtail the police state, we still have these fuckwads who need the nanny to watch over them and as they think - everyone else.... So what to do about these fuckwads who have been conditioned to "see something say something"?

Sorry for the language, it is just that this irritates the crap out of me to see so many people tattling....

invisible
08-24-2014, 11:16 AM
For a single person or a dedicated couple a trailer can be a very good option, especially if you love nature.

From experience I can tell you that an old trailer out in the woods can easily provide a higher quality of life than a luxury apartment in the city. I've done both, and the former has virtues the latter simply can't match - peace and quiet, fresh air, clean water, plenty of sunshine, no jerks in your face the moment you step out the door, no constant rumbling of engines or any of those other city things that build up stress.

I firmly believe that other than for cultural/artistic reasons, there really is no good reason to live in a city anymore. Technology has advanced to the point where you can live just as high-tech a life in the boondocks as you can on Fifth Avenue NYC.

Oh yes, this is very true. It's an excellent way to live cheaply, and make your housing dollar go further than it otherwise would. However, there are people who would assume that only criminals and lowlife types would live in a trailer.
Another way to live cheaply is to live in a "ghetto". It's also an excellent way for your housing dollar to go further than it otherwise would. However, there are people who would assume that only criminals and lowlife types would live in a "ghetto".

The tradeoffs in each housing type and environment are different, but there are people who make the same assumptions about either, or both. I've lived in and owned some very beautiful and luxurious houses in "ghetto" neighborhoods, for very modest prices. If I bought a small plot of land and plopped a trailer down on it as a quick and cheap dwelling, there is very much so an equal appeal to that, although that appeal is very different. However, in either of those situations, there are people who would assume that only a criminal or lowlife would make such a decision to live cheaply in that manner.

invisible
11-23-2014, 01:03 PM
I live in one of those civilized places actually FWIW. A midcoast coastal town. It's actually very nice here, I'm 4 miles from the ocean on a private 2 acre lot with the nearest neighbor 1/4 mile away and protected nature preserve on 3 sides. You can't see the home from the road. My land value is many times the home value. I'm either building a house on the land or upgrading to a foreclosed house I have my eye on in the spring. It's a $400k house in a private community that is on the market now for $79k because it needs a few things. Buying the place I have now was the best move I could have made, it got me out of the craphole that PA became with no mortgage payment.

People here like the trailers because they are well insulated and cheap to heat. There is no social stigma to a nicely kept trailer on a well kept lot. In some cases it's seen as preferable. It costs about $1000 a year to heat vs. an old drafty house that can cost you as much as $10,000 a year to heat. Bar Harbor is nice but I wouldn't want to live there, it's too touristy. Rockingham county NH might as well be Masshole, that's who lives there.

You can twist this around as much you like but you are still wrong. No person in his right mind thinks of where I live as a ghetto. If you want to characterize a trailer park as a ghetto, then sure.

Maine is 50th in the country for violent crime per capita. You literally can not live in a safer place in the US. So your theory of rural murders is complete crap.

http://www.census.gov/statab/ranks/rank21.html


Oh and Hampden is kind of dumpy for the most part. Some people that work in Bangor built nice homes there but it's still not so hot in most places. I wouldn't live there.

Quoted post for the record.

Anti Federalist
11-23-2014, 01:09 PM
I don't own any cars new enough to cost hundreds in excise tax. Property taxes were $800 but now are $600 since I qualified for the homestead rebate after a year. Life is really the way it's supposed to be. NH doesn't have some taxes but makes up for it with the 3rd highest property taxes in the country. But I won't knock NH it's a good place to live besides the obvious masshole counties on the border.

FWIW, in this election, as in the past few, those "Masshole" counties have consistently voted GOP.

JK/SEA
11-23-2014, 01:19 PM
Nobody chooses to live in a crime ridden inner city ghetto vs. the lowest crime per capita state in the country. Style of the building has nothing to do with anything. I'm done replying to you.


frankly, i wish you were done replying to ANYTHING in here.

euphemia
11-23-2014, 05:13 PM
I wonder what the survelliance tape showed. Surely there was a camera in a WalMart parking lot. I'm thinking maybe the other woman bumped the cars and thought her insurance company would believe that she was hit in the parking lot.

emazur
11-23-2014, 06:17 PM
On a somewhat similar note (routine matters that get out of hand fast), I remember when my passport was stolen in '06 and I went to the US embassy (or consulate or whatever it was) to get a new one. Their rep practically accused me of selling it to a terrorist and was yelling at me in hopes that I'd "slip up" and reveal something. Situation was bad enough already (I had travelers checks that were stolen too) and felt violated when all I wanted to do was get a new goddamn passport. I was already a libertarian back then and for several years prior, this just made me distrust the government even more

Slave Mentality
11-23-2014, 09:11 PM
Try hanging out in a rape cage for a few hours for breaking an Arbitrary Edict. You ran into one of the good ones you educated, middle class, white, woman. All you had to do was say the wrong thing and your little pumpkin would have been in state custody while you were hauled off for some bullshit. I can only hope her story deglazed the eyes of some do gooder somewhere.