You can now get a citation for making direct eye contact with a cop

Janx · Sep 1, 2015

Lhorgrim said:
This kind of stuff drove me crazy when I was working. Most of the time I did not know the race of the person I was pulling over. I always tried to be professional, even when I was accused of profiling because I pulled a guy over at 0 dark 30 for failing to dim his high beams when we drove past each other. I gave him a written warning while he accused me of being racist. He wanted to know why I stopped him when there were drunks out on the roads and real crimes happening.
Failure to dim is often an indicator of impaired driving, but what good would it do to try to explain that to someone who is convinced they got pulled over for driving while black?

I always called people sir or ma'am on a stop. It may be a regional thing, but I just saw it as being courteous and professional.

I'm pretty sure you were doing your job right.

In the OT, the cop surely knew his race because the issue was eye contact. At which point, the cop maybe should have considered this not worth the trouble.

Beats me, I don't have that job. I just see that cops need to be double-careful these days because things look fishy from the other side of the traffic stop sometimes.

Kramodlog · Sep 1, 2015

gamerprinter said:
I seriously don't think Republicanism has anything to do with it. There's an 18th century book written by a Frenchman regarding his experience in America (I don't know the book nor author, but saw it spoken of in a documentary), and in it he notes visiting a restaurant and everyone calling the waiter "sir", even though the waiter was obviously not knighted (the author considered it very funny to call a waiter, sir). He noted all Americans used "sir". I don't think its a relationship with authority as much as a term of respect to any person you don't really know and having some dealing with. On the other hand, since we don't have knights in the US, nobody is given the title "sir" before there name.

Of Democracy in America by Alexis de Toqueville?

gamerprinter · Sep 1, 2015

That's it.

Kramodlog · Sep 1, 2015

Janx said:
It's possible then that the PC crowd will make us stop using ma'am and sir so as not to offend anybody.

Will they make you do it by threatening you with a gun?

But if you just want to be respectful to the people you talk, you could always call people "comrades". It is innocent enough. :angel:

Kramodlog · Sep 1, 2015

Morrus said:
I dunno about that. I've been called it by random people in the U.S. A woman on the bus in San Fransisco, for example, or someone asking for change. Nothing to do with authority. .

Maybe this way there is no way you lack respect to a "social better".

Janx · Sep 1, 2015

goldomark said:
Will they make you do it by threatening you with a gun?

But if you just want to be respectful to the people you talk, you could always call people "comrades". It is innocent enough.

Good idea, Comrade.

We need never guess or refer to Comrade GamerPrinter's gender again.

Morrus · Sep 1, 2015

goldomark said:
Maybe this way there is no way you lack respect to a "social better".

Formal speech and address is typically developed from (historically) armed societies, as far as I can make out. Japan has a lot of custom, tradition, and speech all formally developed so that if you use it, you avoid any chance of mistakenly insulting someone or their honour and (again, historically) getting killed for it. It's detailed down to how how you bow, how you accept a gift, etc. I wonder if in the U.S. the Wild West era contributes in a similar (though less extreme) fashion? Language developed to avoid offence.

All a WAG on my part.

gamerprinter · Sep 1, 2015

I don't know, calling someone "comrade" sounds communist to me.

Is there a question regarding my gender? I've met Morrus in person (Gencon 2007), he can tell you my gender is certainly male.

Morrus · Sep 1, 2015

gamerprinter said:
I don't know, calling someone "comrade" sounds communist to me.

Is there a question regarding my gender? I've met Morrus in person (Gencon 2007), he can tell you my gender is certainly male.

Dude, I didn't look that closely!

gamerprinter · Sep 1, 2015

If you see the adam's apple or the wrist bones, that's enough - its how you tell a guy in a dress, is a guy in a dress and not a girl in a dress (well aside from the beard). You don't have to look any closer than that...

You can now get a citation for making direct eye contact with a cop

Janx

Hero

Kramodlog

Naked and living in a barrel

gamerprinter

Mapper/Publisher

Kramodlog

Naked and living in a barrel

Kramodlog

Naked and living in a barrel

Janx

Hero

Morrus

Well, that was fun

gamerprinter

Mapper/Publisher

Morrus

Well, that was fun

gamerprinter

Mapper/Publisher

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