Seriously, it's time for a pig roast.

On Friday my daughter’s Christmas bicycle was stolen from of our backyard, along with the neighbor boy’s bike. Nice. The police could have cared. They just added this recent theft to the mounting thefts in the neighborhood.  Contrast the child’s bike being stolen with this:

At 8:10 am this morning The Professor was ticketed by the police for walking across Nueces Street against the traffic light. I shit you not. There were no cars coming so he walked across the street. It's a freakin' neighborhood street, not Madison Avenue!  The police turned on the siren and proceeded to give write Mr. Suit-Wearing-Conservative-Follow-The-Rules-Man  a citation.

The great part is that there is no way to pay the ticket by mail – no fee listed and no mailing address.  There is a court date with the note stating that failure to appear in court will result in a warrant for the hubby's arrest.   When The Professor isn’t professing he is busy being a lawyer – ‘ya heard ‘bout that billing thing?  How much will this ticket cost? We already tithe 40% to the government plus sales tax and property tax...now a walking tax.

Talk amongst yourselves.

Comments

[All Things BD]

Ah, our local tax dollars at work. What's next? Not using your turn signal in the left turn lane? Using your brights when it's foggy? Parking over one of the parking space lines at HEB?

Fight the good fight!!

[karen]

we are finding out our own bizzarisms lately concerning the Government! we just bought a commercial property. and what that apparently means, is that we have a LANDLORD called the Government, telling us what we can do, when we can do it, and how to do it. We own nothing, really except an empty checkbook, after paying all the fees for this, and fines for that. Its disgusting. Did you know you have to ASK and pay a PERMIT fee to pay someone to actually cut down a tree that is crushing the roof of your property? (and if you don't you can be fined $1700.) OMIGOD.
Im sorry someone stole the bikes. Ours were taken too, a few years ago, out of a locked shed, and nobody cares. In fact, My whole life was taken by our neighbor in November... over his driveway, and it has so far cost me about 150K. We should have dessert, and talk!!!!
ha!

[Izzy Rose]

mmmmmmmmmmmmm...bacon.

[tootsie]

Ha! A neighbor's house was just broken in to and their car was stolen on Sat. night - we live very close to you Bitsy - wish that cop would have been hanging in our hood' rather than ticketing The Professor!

[Shelly]

While I'm not so overly bothered by the jay walking ticket (although I realize it is ridiculous and a seeming waste of police time), what really gets me is that you can't just pay your fine and be done with it. You have to go to court over a jay walking ticket???!! What the hell? Is this the highest best use of anyone's time and money? I would really prefer to use my tax dollars to buy your daughter a new bike!

[Value wIT]

I, too, would like the taxpayers to buy my daughter a new bike - just kidding.

Not sure if The Professor actually "Jay Walked" because that term usually means crossing a street outside crosswalk. He was well inside the crosswalk, but the blinking white lighted person was not flashing on the sign. By the by, in my frequent pedestrian travels, the crossing sign often does NOT work.

Shelly is right. The nasty part of this situation is that you can't mail in the fine. The Professor will have to stop bilking his clients for an entire afternoon while he waits with all the other reprobates to plead guilty or not guilty.

Finally, one last piece of this puzzle - The Professor said that he was walking down the street, which was virtually empty and he noticed the cop coming toward him. The cop turned around and started following him. When The Professor reached the light and crossed, then the cop turned on his lights. It's as if he were drumming-up a reason to stop him. Maybe profiling stoggy, white guys in in vogue to make-up for past minority targeting. The Professor looks so menacing in his navy jacket and edgy Brooks Brothers tie.

[hokgardner]

You'd think the cops would have something better to do.

[Zane]

I love your posts! Being raised in NC, I know we got family in common, 'cause what you say does my heart such good. Now I'm living in Iowa. I come come here and read, to get a little dose of smart thinking again. Thanks.

[Forrest Preece]

This sitch is ridiculous. I cannot believe so many resources are being wasted here-- and it sounds to me like he wasn't even doing anything wrong. So sorry, Bitsy.

BTW, Linda and I just got back from NYC and we were staying in a hotel on Madison Ave. (which you mentioned above). The natives in Manhattan just look at traffic lights as a thin guideline to make an initial stop and then they walk when they have a chance. In four days of striding around our midtown neighborhood, I never once saw a cop look askance at these goings on.