So I'm a little pissed (rant about a cop)
 

I'm sitting in the parking lot of a local grocery store waiting for my wife to come out. She has my 2 year old daughter, I have my 6 month old son in the car. She calls me, tell me she's in line to check out, so I pull up to the front of the store (not blocking any doors or anything), but into the "fire lane". My car is running. A local cop pulls behind me, turns on his lights, and walks up to my car as asks me why I'm not parked in the parking lot. I tell him, "I'm waiting on my wife who has a small child, she's on her way out". He takes my license. My wife comes out, while he's running my license (I guess that's what he is doing), and I load the groceries in. The son of a bitch gives me a $30 ticket for parking in a fire lane. I haven't had a ticket in 16 years. I can't fucking believe the SOB gave me a ticket. He even wrote on the ticket that I was waiting on my wife with a small child. What the fuck? With all the god forsaken crime going on in the world, he's giving me a freaking ticket??? :mad: :banghead:

Lawbreaker.

I'm not going to say anything about you personally, but IMO you deserved it.

Last weekend my wife and I were at the grocery store and this guy was stopped in the firelane in front of it, blocking more then half the lane making people have to go around him, also preventing people from being able to back out of their spots. All because someone was putting their groceries in the trunk of the car. He sat there for 10 minutes while the lady put in groceries, and then she went back in the store and came out with another lady who was putting groceries in the store. It wasn't like these people were handicap people either (which still isn't an excuse), they were just assholes. On top of that the guy was blasting music on his radio, and there was at least one child in the car.

You aren't above the laws. They are there for a reason.

I probably would have been semi-sympathetic, until you broke out-



Worst. Rationalizing. Ever.

Maybe if people weren't breaking petty laws like parking in a fire lane, they could be out there catching the bad guys.

+1

:+1:

Sorry cougar, I won't be on your side either. I can't stand people who stop to drop off and pick people up right in front of the store. If their legs work they should use them. I don't find it a coincidence at all that these people are a majority of the time fat. The people who drive around looking for the closest spot up front drive me nuts as well, especially the ones who stalk people walking to their car and then wait for them to put stuff in their car while blocking traffic. Meanwhile I have parked at the end of the row, and am walking in the store while they are still waiting to park up front.

I wish our cops would give out tickets to people who do this stuff.


edit: there is a big difference between stalking people and stocking them. oops

I have to agree with the rest of the posters here. He might have been a little anal about it, but you were blocking the firelane.

But the ticket won't affect your insurance rates either

This phenomenon happens at my gym. I can't explain why they do it but they'd rather wait for a closer spot then walk an extra 50 yards from a parking spot further away from the entrance

I'm actually going to go one further.

My wife works a lot of weekends, and I often take my 4 year old daughter and 1 1/2 year old son with me grocery shopping. I do something really crazy. I find a spot near one of the cart drop offs. I unload the groceries, push the cart over to the drop off. Get my daughter out of the cart. Get my son out of the cart. We walk back to the car.

I get it's probably rough for your wife, your kids are younger than mine. But blaming the cop is a pretty sorry excuse.

I'm wondering, will this prevent you from doing this again?

Unsure if this applies to you, but cops generally are more likely to give tickets for stuff like this to canadians.

That's pretty good rationalizing as well. Cops should be waiting in parking lots for people pulling up to pick up their wife and small child, instead of looking for someone doing something that could really affect a person's life. I understand, I did technically break a "law". The store has an indented firelane, that allows someone to pull in w/o blocking the driving lane. I've already talked to a buddy of mine, who is on the same dept., and he told me I would have never written the ticket, but instead asked the person to move along. I'm just glad we've got people so anxious to protect and serve citizens from criminals like myself.

Next time, either wait until yo see your wife walk out of the store, or park in the *loading zone*, every grocery store has them.

How do you know the police officer wasn't driving by and saw your car parks in the firelane and thought you might be the getaway vehicle for a possible robbery in progress. You are lucky he didn't walk up to your vehicle with his gun drawn.

Yeah it's called a parking space... :popcorn:

It's called a "fire lane" not a "parking to pick up your wife and small child" lane. I would expect the cop to just tell you to move along but bottom line - you were wrong.

I have a 3 year old and a 2 year old. I use the parking lot. Not a lot of sympathy here.

No sympathy here, small child or not.

The fire lane isn't "cougarfreak's special waiting space." It's there for the use of emergency vehicles, and is not there for you to drop somebody off outside the smoke shop, park while you "run into the bank real quick" or wait for someone to come out of the grocery store. Groceries are too much for your wife to deal with? Go in there and help her. If you can't do that, the baggers will generally always ask if assistance is needed.

But don't whine about a ticket you deserved.

this thread needs a poll option

I'm on cougarfreak's side. But only because I've never met a cop who wasn't power-tripping prick.

On the other hand, you broke the law, so it justified; however, the prick cop should have used common sense and just given you a warning.

What Cougar did probably occurs far more often at a grocery store then does a robbery (at least in a typical town). At least where I grew up, a police officer drawing his gun in this situation would be way over cautious. I don't really disagree with the ticket though as this sort of stuff annoys me.

Zero sympathy here either and by your last post it seems like you're saying you're entitled to break the law as long as you're not breaking a big law and that's absurd. I hate when people feel like their entitled to something that law abiding citizens can't have. It really strikes a nerve. I
I don't have kids but I'm the guy who used to park ( no car anymore ) as far away from the entrance as possible because I don't mind walking and it's a courtesy for others and an extremely easy one to grant. I've never parked in the fire lane and I've never parked in a handicap spot and I support 100% any cop who writes a ticket for either.

Of course, I was a grocery store drone when Billy Ferry decided to torch up a Winn Dixie around where I lived and if it had happened ( or any fire ) in my store I wouldn't want the fire truck to be delayed, not even for a few seconds, while some entitlement ass tried to move out of his way.

What if your car stalled? Died? What if you got hit by another car when vacating the lane? Is it really worth that risk, small as it may be when we're talking about emergency vehicle access? I just don't see it.

Volunteer to work at an emergency room for a while. They need the help so you'll be doing some excellent community service, you'll probably enjoy it and I'll guarantee you'll change your opinion that all cops are power tripping pricks. Wins all the way around IMHO.

Of course, you're right that not all cops are that way. The majority might even be stand-up guys/gals, it's just my handful of experiences that makes me instinctively negative when it comes to cops.

And no, I've never been to jail, or had a felony. Just traffic stuff, and some other situations (like my friend being arrested because he was playing basketball at night with a glow in the dark ball at a public park).

Too bad the cop didn't impound your car for evidence.

hahah...FOFC-sentiment is running like 20-1 against cougar. I want a poll

I don't have any children, but I prefer to to park my car near cart drop offs as well. Less stray carts around the drop offs.

That's the way the human mind works. It has a hypothesis and it only registers what fits that hypothesis.

ER folks think it gets busier on friday the 13th and full moons though studies have disproven this. They think it's busy one night, realize it's friday the 13th and viola, proves their point. Other nights and you know, it's just busy, ER's are busy. Doesn't even register to them.

All doctors are jerks. I'd love that one because I'd hear staff say it and I'd always say, "how about Dr X?"

"No, not him. He's the exception."

"Well, how about Dr Y?"

"No, she's ok."

And I'd repeat until they got the point. No one noticed the nice doctors. No reason to. Everyone noticed the jerks because everyone knew doctors were jerks. It was a self fulfilling fallacy.

Same with Cringer. Fat people are lazy so when he sees a fat person in front of a store it registers. He never sees the fat guy like me parking in the back because he has no reason to look at me. I don't support his stereotype therefore I'm invisible.

I'm imagining same thing with you and cops. No biggie, it's just human nature.

If cougar had written this Friday night, saying he thinks the rule is stupid that you can't wait in the fire lane, car running, waiting for someone to come out of the store, he probably gets some agreement.

The fact that it is only after the ticket, tells me while he may have thought the rule was stupid Friday night, his gripe now is he got busted for breaking the rule.

What if the cop had been sitting there when some kid on his skateboard breezed down the sidewalk, past the 'NO SKATEBOARDING' sign, and slammed into your car sitting in the fire lane? I'm guessing you'd be waiting for the cop to penalize the kid for breaking a rule.

Not much agreement even then I'd wager. I think most people understand the term emergency vehicles and why we tend to like to make it easy for them to you know, fight emergencies.

Do you suppose that most people think it's stupid to pull over for emergency vehicles even if they can get around you? Same concept. It's I'm more important than the potential safety of others and I don't think the majority are going to feel this way and I certainly don't think people are willing to admit it if they do.

Man, that's kindof a mean thing to say about Cringer- calling him both fat and lazy. I mean, he looks like a big guy in his pictures, kindof scary with that beard, but no moreso than the rest of us to the point where he needs calling out :p

SI

Heh, methinks I typed that one wrong. :)

This is a slight hijack I did come up with a joke one time. It's way better heard than read but anyway, I had a problem with a woman whose girth was amazingly impressive. We're talking pushing 500 here.

I made a few fat jokes at her expense ( not in her presence because women or not 500 lbs of pissed off anything isn't something I'm wanting to deal with ).

Anyway, people were looking at me oddly since I'd gone the fat joke route, well, people who don't know me well enough that I joke about anything.

I looked around and said. "I know what you're thinking. How can I make fat jokes? Hey, I'm fat. I know it. I'll admit it but I think there's a huge difference between fat and "GOD DAMN."

This woman really was sad. Someone once suggested she try and lose some weight because she had had an infant daughter and her daughter needed her to be around and she said "I don't care. She may have to grow up an orphan but I love to eat and there's no way I'm stopping for anyone."

Probably one of the saddest things I've ever heard someone say. :(

:(

(like my post wasn't a thread hijack ;))

SI

Oh crap that was funny to read.

And Axxon, I would argue against what you said. I don't think the majority of fat people try to get as close up front as possible, I think a lot of the people trying to park up front are fat though. I would say 8 out of 10 people are. I probably shouldn't have typed that at all looking back on it because it can be taken that way, my bad.

And though I like to work out, lift and run, lets face it I was a truck driver and we all know that means I am not in perfect shape. Working out when you sit 12 hours a day only does so much, especially for a guy who loves cheese. :D So I myself am a guy who will never have a 6 pack and park in the back of the lot.

With the number of times I've watched folks do this and block traffic trying to get through normally (essentially turning it into a one-lane way), and the one idiot that did this and then OPENED THEIR FREAKING DOOR WHEN I TRIED TO GO AROUND THEM, I have absolutely no sympathy. This is you putting lots of other people out and increasing the risk of wrecks all to save you a little tiny bit of work. I'm just glad there was a cop willing to do something about it.

Well-deserved ticket.

Why weren't you helping your wife shop so she wouldn't be so stressed out taking care of both the kids. And then it would be easier to bring the groceries to the car anyways.

:)

ow. rant threads don't often turn out this badly.

and, of course, i'm with the pile up.

the majority of officers i have dealt with have been great. just picturing myself in their shoes and thinking of how tough the job is and how tense every single flippin' day must be, just makes me try to be as polite and courteous as i can be to these folks.

strangely, they are typically polite right back.

No kidding. I have a feeling before it's over we're going to all be losing posts. :D

I'm betting cougarfreak doesn't delete the thread, but doesn't post back in it either.

dola, why didn't the wife leave the 2 year old in the car?

Four boy scouts died this week when they were in the path of a tornado. Cedar Rapids has been evacuated due to flooding. The war in Iraq is still going on. Rosie O'Donnell is still a fat loudmouth lesbian.

There are worse things in the world, y'know, than a $30 parking ticket that was your fault. ;)

I suppose they do; when I see an emergency vehicle, sirens and lights on, traveling down the street, I rarely see people moving out of the way... even when they CAN'T go around.

Oh, and I'm with the pileup. I'm even someone that parks illegaly on a relatively frequent basis (I live in a row house with no parking in front or behind it -- so if I have a large load to get out of the car I will park out front to unload it), but I am fully prepared to get a ticket when I do so. For those that live in the city, it is a 4 lane road with very little traffic in the right lane, but I don't blame you if you say I'm an asshole. :)

I would say they rub off poorly on you because you can tend to be an ass.

But that's just my opinion :)

Then I live on a different planet than you do. I certainly see people do what you're describing but it's not even the majority, much less a majority that would put the minority in the rarely category.

Of course, it;s more likely what I said. No one notices when things work how they're supposed to work and only sees when things don't.

May a plague of locusts descend from the heavens!

This is one thing that irritates me about my parents. My mother is overweight and is extremely lazy which in turn makes her more overweight. If dad takes her anywhere, my mom bitches about being let off in front of the car. For years I always refused to get out, saying I would walk in with dad. Of course, I've long since moved out but today they took my wife and I out to dinner for our 5th year anniversary...low and behold, guess who asked to be let off at the front of Olive Garden. Yes, Olive Garden. The whole damn parking lot might be 200 ft long and she wants out. Apparently over the years my dad has gotten sick of it, he past the front up and parked. She walked with the rest of us. :)

I can't blame the cop, sorry. It's can be very dangerous. More than once I've seen children pop out from in front/behind of a car that's sitting by the doors letting people off or loading groceries.

fuck the cops

At least you didn't do a GTA IV and back over him.. fled the scene, car jacked a trash truck, starting running over all kinds of people, police cars, and anything else that got in your way. :)

cougar, I think you need to just confess you made this all up. It's clear most members on here don't care for people who think they are above the law. And its a really bad message to send to visitors who might not know your joking.

Not sure about your state, but Id check out the definiton of parking.
In SC it requires that a vehicle be unoccupied....you were incapacble of blocking a lane if you are sitting in a vehicle that can move, and its not like a fire truck would sneak up on ya.

I do what you did all the time, and I dont see it as a big deal. If you parked there to run in and grab one or two things that is different. In this case you simply paused there, not parked.

Hey what If I was intoxicated in a running vehicle in a parking lot and a cop found me, would he not give me a ticket since I was parked
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