The Glade 4.0

Of course not.



Most interactions are with county cops. Most of my interactions are not generated by any sort of "stop" or "enforcement proceedings". All bad experiences stem from one thing: questioning what a cop says.



Well, if you think that, you are not of the meathead variety.



It boils down I guess to whom you give the benefit of the doubt. See my experiences above....

The personality type that makes someone want to be a cop?



I'll let the implication that I'm not being honest slide. Look, I'm not trying to insult officers in general with the following statement, nor am I making excuses for them, but it does not take a lot of intelligence to be a cop - specifically on a city or county beat. Furthermore, there are certain professions that attract "meatheads" - marines, special forces, police officers, etc.

There is the admittedly important fact that I am one of the few people in the world that does not blindly do as he is told without question. I respect the need for cops, but they serve the community and can be questioned.

Unintelligent meatheads don't like to be questioned, even politely - and there are a lot in the lower level police force.

Since there is no such thing, probably not. There may be some elements that are much more common, but we do not all have one personality type.



There is no implication that you're not being honest, just that you're telling your side of the story. What you believe and what actually happened may be somewhat different, and the officer's version might differ from both. That does not make either you or he intentionally dishonest.

The fact that some professions may attract "meatheads" really doesn't mean very much; it certainly doesn't mean all, or even many, are, especially since that personality type will be prone to getting themselves in trouble. The term "meathead", moreover, carries an implication that you think yourself superior to them, and on what basis might be I don't know. I realize you're not a dumb guy (since you went to VT) but I think you're stereotyping.



Most people do not blindly do as they are told without question, especially in this country. You're not one of the few in that regard.



Or is this just a matter of you thinking them unintelligent because you're a smart guy and know you couldn't possibly have done anything wrong? No, there are not a lot of unintelligent meatheads. There are quite a few that are poorly educated prior to their police training but that's a different issue.

I think there's a certain amount of self-justification going on here, with talk about how you don't "blindly obey" and the cops are "unintelligent" and "don't like to be questioned. In some cases, that is true, but the fact that you're not blindly obeying does not mean you're in the right, and the fact that you think that someone is stupid and doesn't like to be questioned doen't mean that your "question" (which I have found are generally loaded, rhetorical questions anyhow) was appropriate for the time or place.

We have these things called "courts" you know. You can go in there and someone will make the "unintelligent meathead" sit in a chair for you to question all you want, or have your lawyer do it for you.

_________________
"Hysterical children shrieking about right-wing anything need to go sit in the corner and be quiet while the adults are talking."

Hmmms ... now THAT is funny ...

_________________

Law Enforcement Interaction Rule #1: It's impossible to out "*******" a cop.

Well, like I said, it's not all of them, but yes - I'm definitely "superior" to some of the chodes I've been unfortunately forced to deal with. And yes, I'm quite definitely stereotyping.

A "meathead" is a stereotype that should be fairly self explanatory. There's tons of them, and I don't like them. There seems to be a higher concentration in the police force. That's all I'm saying. I think Ladas said it earlier, there's a certain prejudice that comes into play when you have particular experiences with a type of individual. At this point, I freely admit that I expect annoying meathead issues when I deal with cops. This does quite likely reduce my patience level. However, I make damn sure I don't start anything.



I'm not sure I agree with this statement. Aside from my dealings with the fuzz, I constantly hear "you're the first one that's ever said that" or some such. My real estate agent said I'm the only one that's ever read the contract fully. Rental car guy said the same thing. Retail clerks are SHOCKED when I don't give them my phone number. And so on and so on. Maybe I'm getting cynical, but it really is starting to seem like most everyone does what they are told without question.

I'm right there with you.

_________________

Ezekiel 23:19-20 

I'm sorry you're being forced to deal with your inferiors.



Again, this is nothing more than your perspective and your side of the story. Just how regularly have you had these sorts of interactions? Aren't you doing exactly the same thing Ladas described, only in the opposite direction?



I don't think it has anything to do with "doing as you're told without question". Its not like anyone forces you to buy a house or rent a car. The failure to fully read the contract is a symptom of laziness, not obediance. Not giving the retail clerk your phone number, well, maybe most peopl just don't object to doing that.

You can't assume that because people are cooperative that they're "obeying without question". Maybe they just see no reason not to cooperate in most cases. I'd be willing to bet that if the retail clerk asked for their social security number a lot more people would eact completely differently.

For example, my church participates in a program where homeless families come stay at various churches for a week at a time while the program finds hem a job and permenant home. At one point in the past, they decided they needed to do background checks on everyone at the church who was volunteering for the program. Since I stay overnight as the fire guard sometimes, I was sent a form, which asked for my SSN for the check. I didn't fill it out, and like I told my wife, if they want me to volunteer my time I'm happy to do it, but I'm not submitting to any background check from some half-ass charity, and I'm sure as hell not giving my SSN.

Of the numerous people I've talked to at the church who also participate, very few sent the form back at all, and not a single one gave out their SSN.

_________________
"Hysterical children shrieking about right-wing anything need to go sit in the corner and be quiet while the adults are talking."

Yeah, it sucks.



That was my point.



Maybe you're right. I hope so, but I don't think so. I think people are told to sign, so they sign.