A good weekend, all in all. Saturday we took the kids strawberry-picking and came home with a buttload of strawberries. Sunday we went to the annual Fiddler’s Convention in Westminster, a bluegrass festival. I met up as planned with an old friend who’s been away at college, and we spent some time catching up. Sometimes I think that of all the good christian kids I went to church with, my life has been the most straightedge. I think there’s an object lesson here in the repressive-vs-liberal schools of childrearing.

An odd episode to report from Saturday night, which inspired my previous cryptic post: After packing the kids off to get ready for bed, I decided to take a short walk. This was around 10:15 PM. So I set out, in my strawberry-picking costume of jeans, hawaiian shirt, and sandals. I had been walking for perhaps ten minutes, and I was just a steps away from home, when a police cruiser pulled up next to me. The driver leaned out and asked me if everything was alright. I answered, rather surprised, in the affirmative.

At this point what I should have done was march purposefully to the front door of my house, endeavoring with every step to project the impression of a man who Belongs Here. But far be it from me to alter my plans merely for a pair of police officers. What I did was turn directly off the road into our back yard, with the intention of meditating for a little while before bed. Keep in mind that it’s nighttime, and my yard is mostly lost in shadow.

Well, I had barely sat down when the cruiser comes sidling back around the house. It drifts a little ways down the road, and then turns around and comes to a stop next to our yard. I got back up and walked over to the car, and inquired if I could be of service. The cop who emerged asked me if I lived there, had I been drinking (?!) and could he see some ID please? It seems that I had appeared “unsteady” when they had spied me walking earlier, and when I then “dissapeared” after they first talked to me it struck them as suspicious.

So to satisfy this cop I had to go into the house, fetch my license, and show it to him. After that he wished me a good night and went on his way. Of course, at this point I’m so tense that any chance of succesful meditation is shot.

So that was my weekend.

I’ve never trusted cops. ratspy quipped that taking down information for insurance claims is all they’re good for in reply to my last post. On reflection, I realized that that is, in fact, the only useful service that a police officer has ever done for me personally. Other than that, they’ve just harassed me from time to time.

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14 Comments

  1. I cannot stand cops. The ones in my neighborhood are so amazingly crooked and abnormally mean.

  2. I cannot stand cops. The ones in my neighborhood are so amazingly crooked and abnormally mean.

  3. I can’t even begin…. perhaps sometime in person. professional Bat-statistics indicate ratio of bad (bad including worthless as well as directly malign) cops to good ones at approximately 9:1

  4. I can’t even begin…. perhaps sometime in person. professional Bat-statistics indicate ratio of bad (bad including worthless as well as directly malign) cops to good ones at approximately 9:1

  5. Heh, that’s just asinine. I wish all cops were trained like Maryland State police (who I’ve only had the utmost respect for in my dealings…)

  6. Heh, that’s just asinine. I wish all cops were trained like Maryland State police (who I’ve only had the utmost respect for in my dealings…)

  7. See your problem was in getting u[ and being polite, you should have just sat where your were, in your own yard and just kepy on minding your own business and let them mind theres. Let them come into your yard if they want you for something, then have a big stink if they do. At least, that’s my opinion. 😉

  8. See your problem was in getting u[ and being polite, you should have just sat where your were, in your own yard and just kepy on minding your own business and let them mind theres. Let them come into your yard if they want you for something, then have a big stink if they do. At least, that’s my opinion. 😉

  9. I think this is more than a little creepy, not reflecting poorly in police but society in general.

    I ready a short sci-fi story written in the 50s(maybe earlier) when I was younger that stuck with me, I wish I could remember the name, which was set in the future and involved a man that liked to go out on walks.

    He was aging, and found that years and years had passed since encountering another walker because everyone was inside glued to their TV sets. At the end of the story, a police cruiser spots him and arrests him for his deviant behavior.

    1. It’s true, I don’t see many people walking. I see joggers, and there seems to be some women, often seen in groups and pushing strollers, who go out walking in the early evening when it’s still fully light. But other than that, it’s rare.

      I’ve also noticed that, while I live in an area with a fairly high density of kids, it seems like they are hardly ever seen playing outside. I remember kids playing outside more when I was little.

    2. It’s true, I don’t see many people walking. I see joggers, and there seems to be some women, often seen in groups and pushing strollers, who go out walking in the early evening when it’s still fully light. But other than that, it’s rare.

      I’ve also noticed that, while I live in an area with a fairly high density of kids, it seems like they are hardly ever seen playing outside. I remember kids playing outside more when I was little.

  10. I think this is more than a little creepy, not reflecting poorly in police but society in general.

    I ready a short sci-fi story written in the 50s(maybe earlier) when I was younger that stuck with me, I wish I could remember the name, which was set in the future and involved a man that liked to go out on walks.

    He was aging, and found that years and years had passed since encountering another walker because everyone was inside glued to their TV sets. At the end of the story, a police cruiser spots him and arrests him for his deviant behavior.

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