Nincompoopery 1
Someone called the cops because a black guy had his hands in his pockets. Cops check out “suspicious” behavior.
This just in from Pontiac, Michigan where it is reportedly a tad chilly. Well, freezing, actually. A black man was walking around with his hands in his pockets. Seeing this suspicious behavior, a concerned citizen of indeterminate race called the police. A police officer dutifully checked it out, that being his job. The black guy, who identified himself as B McBean on the YouTube video he posted of the incident, was a little flabbergasted. “There’s got to be 10,000 people walking around with their hands in their pockets,” he tells the officer politely.
The cop says, “There’s been a lot of robberies.” And yes, that does seem like a bit of a non sequitur.
The two men have a kind of stand-off where both of them have their phones out, aimed at each other to record the incident while they discuss the absurdity of their predicament.
The police officer explains that they got a call about “suspicious” behavior.
Add it to the list: Walking around with your hands in your pockets in Michigan, in the cold, while black, is suspicious.
Nincompoopery 2
Good Excuses are Hard(er) to Find
In the good news / bad news view (from me), a constant source of my irritation has been removed from the country. So long in fact, that I hadn’t noticed, and many younger people have never used it.
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I have long been annoyed by people that are late. It shows they have no concern for your time. At least, send a text you are running late. At least, acknowledge that the people waiting have some minor importance in your mind.
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And the old excuse was “my watch stopped / ran slow / is wrong”. But not anymore. Now when you are late, it is obvious that something went wrong somewhere.
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The old excuses of “traffic” / “subway delays” and others are still around, but no more watch issues. And this is because just about everyone has a cell phone. And the cell phone time is consistent between all users. No more setting your watch 5 or 10 minutes fast.
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Now I don’t know where they all get their times from (actually I do, but I don’t want to be a know-it-all here), but they are consistent. You never hear a kid say “My Phone was running late…”