A Pig in every sense of the word

[Mitzi]

I had jury duty today. At lunch break, I went with 2 other women jurors to this sandwich shop. I wasn't in a good mood cause my back hurt and I was grouchy. I gave the man my order but I told him I didn't have a number like everyone else. He says to me, "You ain't got a number, baby? I got a number for, honey. Come back here and I will show it to you." The whole place went quiet in shock and I got THOUROUGHY ticked off.
I said, "YOU PIG! How DARE you talk to me that way. Can you say "sexual harassment"? Just get my salad out here to me and no more smart remarks!" He turned beet red and gave me my salad.
I walked to my table to people clapping! lol
He came out to apologize to me and I pointed my finger at him and said, "YOU! YOU don't come NEAR ME!." SO he turned around and walked back behind the counter. I finished my salad and went back to the courthouse even grouchier. lol

[ 11-13-2001: Message edited by: Mitzi ]

[RachelR]

oh oh.. hope he didnt do anything to your salad!

Way to go Mitzi!

[SGT Dave]

Dang it! Raychel beat me to it!

So Mitzi...how did the...uh, er..."dressing" taste??????


Welcome to our everyday world.

[Mitzi]

Not that I know of. They were premade salads in this case and he took it an handed it to me. I saw nothing wrong with it. Now, if he had had to MAKE it, I would have left, honestly, because I would not have trusted him. But, they were, like I said, in the refrigerator case right in front of me and all he had to to was hand it to me.
What a PIG. I was so mad.

[Mike Tx]

That's odd. My brother who just got out of prison 2 weeks ago for tampering with peoples food, told me he almost got slapped by some grouchy old lady in a salad bar he works at. What a coincidence.

[Mike Tx]

Serious question Dave, do you guys feel uncomfortable eating in public places sometimes in uniform? I know lots of people who don't understand things and dislike police for ignorant reasons. I sure some of them do foolish things to food.


PS: You know we've gone too far when we have to preface a post with 'serious question'!

[Mitzi]

lol I know it was really you, Sullivan, coming down here just to harass me.
But, I would think that police officers might be maybe worried abit about what they might be eating.
I have a neighbor that gets sick a lot after eating out. He is an obnoxious customer, demanding substitutions and special treatment. He hasn't figured out yet that's why he gets sick so often. We went to a restaurant one night (the last time, we swore) when he was really obnoxious, even telling the manager to send one of hers "gofers" over to another restaurant to get THEIR hot sauce. They became quite indignant and, of course, refused. He was so obnoxious, saying they worked for HIM and the customer was always right. My husband had finally had enough and told him to knock it off. But, we both noticed he was in bed sick with a "stomach virus" for 3 days after this.

[Mike Tx]

If I lived past the stupid stage of being a cop I would NEVER eat out. How anyone can stoop to doing 'something' to someones food because of what they are makes me mad. Stuff like that makes me really mad.

[SGT Dave]

Absolutely. They see it as their little window of revenge I guess. Happens all the time. I've had people admit to it, but it's funny-it's always other agencies and other officers-they never indicate it was recent or local (???) And of course, how many times does it happen WE DON'T know about?

Remember also that we, by nature of our jobs know things about people most don’t or never could imagine. It's not just the threat or perceived threat of having a direct tampering or contamination-many people with AIDS/HIV also get jobs in food service. I don't care about their "right to work" or being "sensitive", or be told that it's not "likely" I'll get contaminated-it's ridiculous. We used to have several restaurants in a row that we couldn't eat at because of one of the possibilities-direct tampering by frequent arrestee or possible contamination by AIDS patients. This applies to off duty also. This is part of the package a spouse or LTP "buys into" when entering into a relationship with a cop.

Often, I'll be out with the wife friends, and every restaurant they suggest:

"No, ******* ***** works there-he's got AIDS."
"No, **** ****** works there I've written him 2 tickets for NOL."
"No, one of the waitresses has hepatitis B."
"No, the hostess there is ****ed off at us because we split her husband's head."

Thank God my friends understand. Buffets are good, as is Sub Way and the like since you can watch them prepare it. Another answer is to go out of town, where the chance of being recognized is far less.

I'm tempted to say that I'm TOO PARANOID about this, but I don't think you can be TOO paranoid about this.

Also, to expound on something you've said, often people with "grudges" don't truly know the officer anyway-they might be going on an erroneous perception, or an incorrect stereotype. Granted some are frequent customers in the justice system, and applying the common tactic of blaming others rather than themselves, hold grudges. It would be bad enough if the specific officer had had to deal with them specifically, but often we find people with "attitudes" about stuff they have no idea about, but think they know about from popular misconceptions. Examples:

Had an old lady screaming at me because a deputy had a warrant on her son, saw him in the yard, and he ran. Deputy chased him into the residence, and she tried to block him-and when he knocked her out of the way, she was mad as HE**, because "I know damn well he can't come in my house without a warrant!"

A local redneck who has the "I'm intelligent and know the law" mentality was bragging to everyone he was going to sue my department and win because the retired chief "searched his car without" a warrant and violated his "civil rights". (This was search incident to arrest-his "permission" was not needed or requested.) He was fond of telling everyone about the "crooked cops" in *****.

One arrestee said he "hated" my department (we are one of the most respected in the county, by citizens as well as LE) since the Chief "murdered" a guy, and it was covered up. It was suicide by cop-guy had a pistol and was ordered at gunpoint to put it down, and at the last second (and I mean THE LAST SECOND) he spun it around and pointed it at the Chief (verified by several witnesses) and the Chief correctly put a .45 Silvertip through his diaphragm. It turned out the pistol was one of the "lookalike" air pistols, but it was CLEARLY a legit shoot. Even the info from the caller was that he "had a 9mm." The guy STILL calls it "murder."

Others hold grudges over stupid "I think the officer should have handled it differently" things:
"He shouldn't have maced ole Fred-if he'd have talked nice to him he'd a' went peacefully."
"They shouldn't have handcuffed Uncle Roy-he's not a criminal!"
"There's all this dope out here-why'd they arrest me for DWI?"
"They're not supposed to shoot until they see the gun!"
And the all time favorite "I'm a stupid redneck and don't know SH** about law" misconception…
"They should'a just shot him in the leg!"

[Don]

Originally posted by SGT Dave:

I'm tempted to say that I'm TOO PARANOID about this, but I don't think you can be TOO paranoid about this.

No Dave, I don't think there is such a thing as TOO paranoid about some jerk tampering with our food. It is too easy to do, and to hard to find out about until after the fact, if ever.

This was an area of grave concern for me in the residence post. Due to very "limited eating places" and be ummm, rather well known by the local dirt bags who worked in them.

Guess that is one of the reasons that I learned to be a pretty darned good cook while I was batching!

[Mike Tx]

I was talking to a guy the other day about restaurant robbers. He asked what would I do. I told him I had no idea, but probably hide under the table.

He laughed and said he would try to take the robbers gun and shoot him in the leg. I told him all sorts of bad things could happen if he tried that. He just laughed. I won't go to a restaurant with him. Besides I pointed out, if he takes the creeps gun, how can he legally shoot him? He said it would be justified. I said ok. He knows the law.

[klar]

Well mike I would be under that table with you. I feel that it is a lot easier to get a good description and let those with the badges to hunt the guy down. Nothing says as he/she flees the scene that I will not calmly walk out and see if I can get a plate number or a description of the vehicle but I would do that in the safest way posible. I know if the guy/gal put a gun to my head then they will be dead and I would be justified (in my opinion) and would calmly wait for the police and other law enforcement to arrive at the scene. I believe that being out of the way as much as possible is the easiest way through life. I am a sideliner I will sit on the side lines of life and watch it all happen but I will provide what news or accounts of it that I can.

Klar

[Mitzi]

No way would I be a hero. Too many bad things can go wrong. My husband worked in a grocery store when we were first married. A man tried to rob a cashier and my husband could have easily jumped on the guys back. BUT, the guy had a gun and my husband said it could have easily gone off and hit the cashier.
He opted to run back to the office and call the police. When the police got there, there WAS a scuffle. The robbers gun went off, shooting the robber in the leg. My husband stayed hidden, as did many others, except for a few others and him grabbing kids and hiding them with the parents.
The next day, my husband got a lot of flack for being a "coward" and not wrestling the gun out of the robbers hand since he was so close.
But, he defends his actions to this day, saying the cops knew how to do it and he didn't and no one but the robber got hurt.

[Legal Assistant]

The way I look at it is like this: Money is NOTHING compared to my life. And I will GLADLY give up my purse, my money, my car, or whatever to save my life. I would definitely not try to be a hero. I'll leave that to the officers.

[ 07-17-2002: Message edited by: Legal Assistant ]

[Mitzi]

I feel the same way. Nothing I have is worth losing my life over. My husband said, "Would you give up the one carat diamond solitaire ring? (that I waited for for 25 years)" I said, "In a heartbeat". I mean that too. And that's saying something because we could never afford to replace it now. But nothing I have would be worth my life, except the lives of my husband or son or maybe an innocent child I would try to help.