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anti-press ezine 2003 05 11
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< ANTI-PRESS EZINE #38 >
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"We're Positive About The Negative"
This E-dition filed 5/11/03.
(C) Copyright 2003 Anti-Press
=============================================================
* Cross Crosswalker Crosses Swords *
Being a police officer: a hard job. That's a given. An officer shirks his
duty: sorry, that can't be forgiven.
Recently a law-abiding citizen was almost struck by a careless driver
speeding through a city of Plattsburgh crosswalk. The citizen called the
police with a plate number. He waited downtown near the scene of the
incident.
Some time later a police officer arrived to speak to the shaken and angry
complainant. The complainant told the officer that he was less than
halfway across the street when a SUV sped behind him, almost knocking him
down. He yelled at the driver who circled back and assured the pedestrian
that she wasn't going to hit him -- even though she passed with a couple of
feet behind him, appearing out of nowhere, traveling at about 25 MPH.
The officer said there was nothing he could do. You see, for her to
violate the crosswalk law, she had to pass in FRONT of a pedestrian,
therefore not yielding the right of way.
The complainant was stunned and became angry again. He challenged the
officer's interpretation of the New York State vehicle and traffic law. He
said this was his fifth close call on a city crosswalk over a period of
years. On one occasion he had the right of way and an inattentive driver
in a pick-up truck did a right-on-red, knocking him back. But he never
called the police until today when enough was enough.
The officer responded with a slightly chiding tone: "You seem to have a
lot of incidents like this."
Blame the victim. A classic tactic.
Then the officer explained that had had spoken to the driver first. The
complainant found that odd. The driver had taken off as soon as the
complainant told her he was calling the police. Why did the officer talk
to the driver first? Did she also call the police? Or was she someone's
wife, relative, mistress? No, that can't be. A policeman would never let
personal connections influence his job.
Maybe the officer was tired of working twelve-hour shifts, the new schedule
put into place by the city to save money. A bit of burn out. Maybe he
didn't want to do the paperwork.
That thought soon crossed the complainant's mind. The officer went on to
say that the driver claimed that she was the victim: the complainant not
only shouted at her but spat on her. That, replied the complainant,
looking the officer directly in the eye, was a lie. If she felt that way,
then have him arrested, let's go to court and settle the matter.
The officer quickly backed away from that "offer." All that form-filling,
paper-filing, court appearances -- maybe that scenario didn't appeal to him.
Of course, we're getting our information from the complainant, only hearing
from his POV. But for some reason we think his story is true. We have
seen officers look the other way. One time a driver, an older citizen, ran
a red light, passing a stopped police car facing in the opposite lane. We
were standing on the corner, witnessing the driver ignoring the stop
signal. We looked at the officer. He looked at us, unconcerned, as if to
say: What do you want ME to do about it?
Gee, we want you to do your JOB.
* Crosstalk *
By Stan Spire
"In case the Powers-That-Be think I'm overreacting, I challenge the mayor
and the city councilors to leave their cars parked and spend a couple of
weeks getting around only on foot. It might turn out to be a startling
learning experience."
Fat fugging chance.
I mean, this emailer thinks the Powers-That-Be will increase their chances
of becoming roadkill in downtown Peeburgh? Anyway, at the end of this
month they're bringing in a special consultant who will tour the city with
the politicos, showing them what needs to be fixed.
Hey, I could do it for a lot less -- the same amount I make writing for
this ezine. Nothing.
The preceding article discusses how a pedestrian was almost knocked over in
a downtown crosswalk by a SUV. When the police wouldn't do anything, he
emailed the mayor, the city councilors, and, of course, this ezine. A copy
of his email was dropped into my lap for comment. Such are the assignments
I pull at the Precision Reality Center.
One reason I got stuck with this article is because for years I've been
amused by the various empty schemes by the city pols to return downtown to
its former glory. The big buzz lately has been pedestrian safety. Pick up
the local paper and there's another article, how your city representatives
are working hard to keep pedestrians and also bicyclists safe. OK, they
get points for addressing the issue -- but I'm still waiting to see a
difference. To borrow a line from CLOCKWORK ORANGE: "Enough of words.
Action speaks louder than. Action now!"
Downtown is dying; two stores have moved uptown where the parking is
better. What has the city done in the past to keep businesses from
leaving or dying? Obviously, it didn't improve parking. Instead, it put
in a bunch of antique-style streetlights that flood downtown at night with
harsh piss-yellow glare. Well, the area is brighter, but quantity doesn't
make up for lack of quality. At least the increased radiance will make
the pooling blood from a squished pedestrian on a crosswalk more evident.
As mentioned before in the previous article, on occasion the cops don't do
shit. What is the point of increasing public awareness about pedestrian
safety when the law isn't enforced? One time an editorial in the Peeburgh
paper scolded the city PD when one of its patrols ignored the crosswalk law
during a crowded public event. That didn't set a good example for citizens
to follow.
The main problem is attitude, not only with the cops but also with some of
the idiots behind the wheel.
To quote from the email of the near-squished-pedestrian:
"The careless driver circled back to tell me I had overreacted, she wasn't
going to hit me. Really. I didn't know she was a highly-trained stunt
driver. Even then, I wouldn't trust a stunt driver to speed so close to me
in a one-ton-plus vehicle."
Hey, NENYland is home to a plethora of hayseed NASCAR fans. Boy, they sit
on their couches at home, consuming endless piles of potato chips and
cheese puffs, watching the race on TeeVee, spitting wet crumbs of their
healthy snacks all over when they cheer a favorite driver to victory.
Later they waddle outside, squeeze their fat-pumped thighs under the
steering wheel, and hit the gas, the streets their personal raceway.
The careless driver mentioned in the email might think she's NASCAR
qualified, thundering around in her dinosaur car. You heard about
dinosaurs, right? Big bodies with small brains. Bulk compensating for
limited intelligence. The same reason some people own a SUV.
"Using the Internet I checked the NYS VAT (vehicle and traffic law),
Section 27, 1146 and 1151. I don't see how the driver didn't get a ticket;
she didn't 'exercise due care.'"
Christ, when did the law have anything to do reality? As a pedestrian
you're the minority. Why should the majority exercise due care? They're
in a hurry; they have places to go. Mr. Pedestrian, it takes you about
forty-five minutes to walk from downtown up to the mall. A driver can make
it in five. How dare you think that he should slow down or stop when
you're using a crosswalk. If a driver does that, it will take him SIX
minutes to get to the mall. What audacity on your part!
The driver is comfortably ensconced inside his high-powered four-wheeled
cage; he can't be bothered. A pedestrian is just a nuisance like a
pothole. The car-and-driver is the superior life-form. It can easily kill
you. After all, might makes right -- and even the right-of-way.
As for me, I'm also a pedestrian but I know there is a way of equalizing
the odds. For example, how does a big game hunter even the odds? No, I'm
not advocating that a pedestrian be armed with an elephant gun to take out
rogue vehicles -- even though the vision of someone's trophy room adorned
with the cars he's bagged is amusing. I can see the puny hunter showing a
friend the front end of a SUV mounted on the wall, its headlights like
startled eyes and its license plate like a gaping mouth. I'll leave that
cartoon image for the NEW YORKER magazine. What I mean metaphorically is
that a human hunter uses his most important weapon when facing beasts many
times his size. That weapon is his intelligence. And so to take on the
lazy behemoth of official indifference, the wild clumsy critter stampeding
through the crosswalk, the pedestrian has to use his intelligence, find an
appropriate weak spot.
In brief: Sue the bastards.
* NENYland Quote Of The Day *
"Right now, sales are almost evenly divided between guitars, guns and
groceries." -- Dick Decosse, Owner, Dick's Country Store, Churubusco, NY
=============================================================
NOTICE: Unless indicated otherwise, all articles by Anti-Press. Articles
submitted by others do not necessarily express or reflect the opinions or
beliefs of Anti-Press.
WHERE WE'RE AT: Anti-Press Ezine radiates from our Precision Reality
Center. We're presently entrapped in the alleged city of Plattsburgh,
northeastern New York State (NENYland), USA. (THWUMP!! "Jeezum Crow, I
just hit one of dem dere pissdestrians. There better not be any blood on
the chrome... hey, is dat a cop's badge on the hood? Shee-it. If that
badge scratched my paint job...)
EMAIL: Antipress1@aol.com
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