Cops Suck
on one of those really bad days in february david, jessica, lisel and i went to dinner at one of our favorite italian restaurants, pizzaiolo. i mean what better way to shrug off a bad day (well maybe week) by going out for good food with good company.
if you live in the SF bay area, then you should really check out pizzaiolo. and for those of you in SF it's worth a trip to oakland. the chef, charlie, used to be the pizza chef at chez panisse. the food is just as good as what you would get at chez panisse. the atmosphere is very casual and the prices are reasonable. be prepared to wait though. they don't take reservations.
anyway... the dinner, conversations and laughs were great; we ate like kings and queens. the best was a brick-oven-backed pizza with salted cod. words can not describe how yummy it was!
so we left sated and in good moods.
on the drive home through piedmont we approached an intersection that was marked a few yards before the light by a "don't block zone". for some reason the lines created a weird illusion that the actual intersection was closer. so i proceeded to go through the yellow light.
notice that i said illusion.
by the time that i actually passed through the intersection the light had already turned red. and guess who was parked in the parking lot at that exact same spot? you're right fucking asshole snotty piedmont officer "M".
bye, bye good mood and hello panic!
mind you this was the first time since i've been driving that i've been stopped by a cop for a traffic violation. i was nervous as hell. officer "M" asked the question i've heard asked on tv shows and movies, "do you know why i've stopped you?" being the honest person i am i said something like, "yes. i misjudged the distance between the cross-walk and the yellow light and ran the red light." officer "M" in a true asshole unforgiving cop reaction said, "that wasn't a cross-walk." i didn't want to argue that i was nervous and meant to say a don't block zone. with the luck that i was having he would have asked me to get out the car and who knows what...
then he asked for my license and registration. i asked david to get the registration from the glove compartment. officer "M" ever so slightly moved his hand to his pistol. i'm sure they are trained to do that but that made me even more nervous. i was literally on the verge of tears.
he went back to his car, i guess checked my record and wrote out the ticket. he handed me the ticket, told me that signing the ticket was not admitting that i was guilty. i asked him what the next steps were since i had never gotten a ticket before. i really thought that maybe he would have given me a break since i had a good driving record and never been "guilty" of any traffic violoations. but no, he was a typical arrogant asshole cop. so he went on to explain that i would get an official summons in the mail in a few weeks and that i might be eligible to go to traffic school to avoid points.
the date that i am supposed to appear in court is 4/1. as of yesterday morning i didn't receive anything in the mail. so i went online to see if the citation was entered into the system. i had a glimmer of hope that maybe officer "M" had a change of heart and decided to tear up my ticket.
um, yeah right. wishful thinking.
i had to pay $380 and need to go to traffic school. i know that i can take the course online but it's still a big hassle.
if you live in the SF bay area, then you should really check out pizzaiolo. and for those of you in SF it's worth a trip to oakland. the chef, charlie, used to be the pizza chef at chez panisse. the food is just as good as what you would get at chez panisse. the atmosphere is very casual and the prices are reasonable. be prepared to wait though. they don't take reservations.
anyway... the dinner, conversations and laughs were great; we ate like kings and queens. the best was a brick-oven-backed pizza with salted cod. words can not describe how yummy it was!
so we left sated and in good moods.
on the drive home through piedmont we approached an intersection that was marked a few yards before the light by a "don't block zone". for some reason the lines created a weird illusion that the actual intersection was closer. so i proceeded to go through the yellow light.
notice that i said illusion.
by the time that i actually passed through the intersection the light had already turned red. and guess who was parked in the parking lot at that exact same spot? you're right fucking asshole snotty piedmont officer "M".
bye, bye good mood and hello panic!
mind you this was the first time since i've been driving that i've been stopped by a cop for a traffic violation. i was nervous as hell. officer "M" asked the question i've heard asked on tv shows and movies, "do you know why i've stopped you?" being the honest person i am i said something like, "yes. i misjudged the distance between the cross-walk and the yellow light and ran the red light." officer "M" in a true asshole unforgiving cop reaction said, "that wasn't a cross-walk." i didn't want to argue that i was nervous and meant to say a don't block zone. with the luck that i was having he would have asked me to get out the car and who knows what...
then he asked for my license and registration. i asked david to get the registration from the glove compartment. officer "M" ever so slightly moved his hand to his pistol. i'm sure they are trained to do that but that made me even more nervous. i was literally on the verge of tears.
he went back to his car, i guess checked my record and wrote out the ticket. he handed me the ticket, told me that signing the ticket was not admitting that i was guilty. i asked him what the next steps were since i had never gotten a ticket before. i really thought that maybe he would have given me a break since i had a good driving record and never been "guilty" of any traffic violoations. but no, he was a typical arrogant asshole cop. so he went on to explain that i would get an official summons in the mail in a few weeks and that i might be eligible to go to traffic school to avoid points.
the date that i am supposed to appear in court is 4/1. as of yesterday morning i didn't receive anything in the mail. so i went online to see if the citation was entered into the system. i had a glimmer of hope that maybe officer "M" had a change of heart and decided to tear up my ticket.
um, yeah right. wishful thinking.
i had to pay $380 and need to go to traffic school. i know that i can take the course online but it's still a big hassle.
posted by Keith at 7:28 AM
11 Comments:
$380?!? ugh. I'm really sorry to hear about this...you're right... more often than not, cops are weenies and they take out their aggressions on nice, normal folks like you and me rather than go after true criminals. I'm sure the "M" stands for Monkeybutt.
Well, that was one way to spoil a fun time! You deserved a break, considering your clean driving record. That cop must have been having a bad day, and he took his problems out on you. A day doesn't go by that we don't see someone run a red light - on purpose!
Miss Nancy
sorry to hear about the ticket! that blows. I have a great story about a 400 lb cop who pulled me over in san leandro. i'll tell ya someday.
as for pizzaiolo, everyone make sure to stop into article pract while waiting in line! You will be waiting in front of our door anyway! ; )
While by and large I agree that cops in general suck, I had a recent experience where I was pulled over coming home from work for an expired inspection sticker. Long story short, I couldn't find my insurance or registration, but I think the cop thought I lived out of my car and only gave me a ticket for my Dada action figure I had hanging in my rear-view mirror. It could have been worse, but I think I lucked out... most times I get asked to step out of the car.
That blows. FWIW, I had very good experience with this online traffic school:
http://www.cheapeasyfast.com
As the name implies it was cheap, fast (about 2 hours) and so easy I could pass at 100% while consuming a nice fizzy cocktail.
Sadly the days of the cops giving anyone a break are long gone. Once they walk off with your paperwork it's over...they write the ticket before they come back, and once written it can't be undone. At that point I don't even bother talking to them, I swear it gives them a hard on to heard stories / pleading etc, so I won't play their macho game, I just take the ticket, sign it, and cheerilly tell them that I hope it rains and they get wet and cold. I once asked a traffic cop what he was going to do when he grew up and became a real police officer, he was not well pleased...but it kinda made up for the bullshit ticket.
I'm getting tired of the double standards these premadona's have over regular citizens. They never get tickets yet hold there noses high and hands open wide pick pocketing society. I feel zero sadness when they fall off their bikes or get hurt while giving out bogus tickets. Just my two cents. I know it's not popular opinion to those "well don't break the law or it's for our protection" I'm not talking about the fools going 40 in a 25 school zone during school hours with real pedestrians that can get hurt. It's the BS speed traps on open highways in light or no traffic snagging folks doing 75 in a 65. It's bull shit.
I WISH THAT THE "TERRORISTS" WOULD GET IT RIGHT. WHY KILL INNOCENT AMERICANS. THE COMMON ENEMY ARE THE FU#$ING COPS AND GODAMNED POLITICIANS THAT ALL WORK FOR THE MOB. TO ALL TERRORISTS - DO US BOTH A FAVOR AND TARGET THEM INSTEAD OF INNOCENT AMERICAN CITIZENS.
5 months ago I was first to a four way stop and an Oakland cop approached from the opposite side. I was foolish enough to do a legal U-turn in front of him. He had to accelerate to pull me over for an "unsafe turn". This was obviously ridiculous, so when I (again foolishly) questioned him he verbally cut me off and intimidated me with his position. I also had to pay $400, but that wasn't the worst. It caused me to get a point on my license which eliminated my safe driving discount from my insurance.
I guess I am lucky because he didn't shoot me. Watch out everyone, don't disrespect Oakland cops or they will ruin your day.
I think I'll go put on a uniform, carry a gun, be rude and arrogant and mean, boss people around, give them all kinds of unnecessary grief, wasting their time, being confrontational and condescending, rile them up, make them angry, and of course make them pay lots of money for breaking "the rules". Oh, I'm so sorry you'll have to miss work to show up in court. Oh, I'm so sorry your mother just died. Here, pay this ticket. Filthy bastards. You suck, cops. You're heartless excuses for human beings. Mean people suck. I PAY TAXE. I PUT FOOD ON YOUR TABLE, YOU ASSHOLE!
Most cops are just tax collectors for the city/township/county/state. Generally, no excuse will dissuade them from performing their tax collection duties and writing you a ticket. Pair that with a money grubbing prosecutor and judge with a typical small town kangaroo court and you have the makings of a wonderfully effective money making machine.
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