Friday (the thirteenth) Follies...
Okay then...it's Friday The 13th, and wouldn't you know it...of ALL the months to have one of THESE, it HAS to be the one that also includes my birthday (in a little over a week)...geez!
Some years you never catch a break.
Now, I haven't seen any blacks CATS, but there WAS a black Lab running loose earlier this morning.
(wonder who is going to call Animal Control THIS time?)
There is ONE story that really made me smile today (and believe me, in this ghettohood, there sure ain't much TO smile about, aside from my patio critters and the garden).
*** A U of Minn. police officer has been pretty busy lately.
He's been writing tickets.
Okay, so you think it's not a big deal, right?
Well, how's about HALF A MILLION tickets?
Got you attention NOW, don't we?
(( U of M Police Officer Targets Illegal Handicap Parkers
Nearly half a million dollars in tickets in just five years all go back to one officer with the University of Minnesota Police.
Officer David St. Cyr says he's cited over a 1,000 drivers for illegally using handicap parking permits.
Only the permit holder, or someone driving the permit holder are legally allowed to use them.
The fine is more than $500 -- that's a half million dollars.
St. Cyr says it's not just illegal, it's just not right. That's what keeps him going. )) Here's the story link:
http://kstp.com/news/stories/S1694078.shtml?cat=1
Now here is a PERFECT case of ONE MAN making a damn difference!
Of course, if YOU ever had the misfortune to NOT be able to find a HANDICAPPED spot, thanks to some lazy-ass that just HAD to park closer to the store and deny those truly handicapped the chance to make their lives a tad better...you know what I mean.
I see that all the time around here, and at our former grocery store we would have an officer patrol the lot checking validity of handicapped tags and seeing IF the car there was falsely using those spots.
But then again, THIS is called being PROACTIVE with your policing.
And it's a damn fine way to solve a growing problem with society today.
Which brings me to another issue in Fort Wayne.
Last evening, around 2215 hours, the radio had a "shots fired" call (signal 113) in the 4400 block of Weisser Park Ave. Seems a woman was shot in the butt, and was transported to hospital in OK condition.
Given the size of most of these welfare queens around here, that would be considered "center body mass" anyway, so no biggie.
The shooter was described as driving a white 4 door Impala with darkened windows and a SPOTLIGHT...!
Now what the hell have I been harping about with these "people" driving EX-POLICE CARS, anyway?
Our quadrant captain ONLY knew about such vehicles in our area for the better part of two years (when I relayed it to her in an email...heard from people in Indianapolis - they were also seeing this). And I even provided LICENSE PLATE NUMBERS of such vehicles, as they tend to be driven around here in an intimidating fashion...and THAT, my friends IS against the law. You are not permitted to misrepresent yourself as a LEO when you're not...and driving LIKE an officer in a car that LOOKS like an officer might be in it, is just WRONG.
Just so happens I have one car on my list that fits the description (God plate - QZ 929), in case any FWPD people are reading...and you know who you are.
So again, I am trying my damnedest to MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
The thing is, with Officer St. Cyr in Minnesota, he has the AUTHORITY to make that difference, whereas, I have to rely on others to whom I provide good information to ACT upon what I give them. THEY, in turn, are charged with (actually) MAKING THAT DIFFERENCE...(or not).
Now, in some manner, I suppose I can exonerate myself, because it's up to THEM, and no longer my problem, but I do feel SOME level of responsibility.
Go figure...some habits are hard to break.
Something else I've discovered in our area...we seem to have a bumper crop of SHOPPING CARTS this year...imagine that.
Now I know I didn't PLANT any, so either they are randomly materializing from an alternate dimension about the neighborhood, OR (and this is just a guess)...some "people" are toting them home from whatever store doesn't know they've been "boosted".
I emailed our Captain, Waste management, AND Code Enforcement in the "hope" the carts can get rounded up and returned to their rightful stores.
Again...here I am...TRYING to make that damn difference. But it's certainly not MY job (they couldn't afford me at this point, trust me) to go around and take them back to the stores. And we can't rely on those who TOOK the carts to return them...that ain't gonna happen, unless they get PAID to return them (something else for free...dangle that carrot).
Yeah, nothing like watching KIDS playing in shopping carts...in the middle of a street. Sure smacks of ghetto-esque behavior from the progeny of the generationally-welfared in the area. Guess no one wants to steal a toy from Wal-Mart for the little buggers...oh, well.
Sorry, but shopping carts are called what they are for a REASON, and it's not a PLAY cart...
I'm also waiting on a broken (and open) garage door of a nearby house to get fixed (or cited by NCE). Either way will work for me.
'Ya know, there is not enough time in ANY day to make ALL the phone calls for ALL the problems down here...that much I know.
All I can do is pick and choose my "battles", and then "advise & report", because I have no authority to "act" upon what I see and hear (real lucky for some perps around here).
Like those boomcars that get a free pass for YEARS...when all it would take is ONE (or maybe several) officer with the EXACT SAME level of pride and honor to "make the right call" as Dave St. Cyr, and start TICKETING offenders that honestly DESERVE IT, instead of warning the hell out of them, in the name of "diversity" or to keep from being sued for "picking on minorities" (who do tend to break the law, sometimes more often in their own areas than anywhere else, and yet NEVER seem to get caught).
My neighborhood has a very few of us that will give a damn...for as long as is necessary (or until some Publisher's Clearing House van pulls up with that multi-million dollar check - then I am SO gone from here, you'll see flames under the tires, ust like Doc Brown's DeLorean...LOL)
I (we) will leave under MY (our) terms...no one else's.
But you live by certain principles, and were brought up with a value system a lot more in tune with normalcy than what passes for it today, you do the difficult.
You do what's correct, what's right and just...because to NOT do so, makes you as guilty as those who never even did anything in the first place.
And THAT..you can take to the bank...in ANY economy.
Have yourselves a great weekend.
Be well, make a difference to someone, and, as always...
Stay safe out there, America.