Enforcing the Law
Let us re-examine the premise, frequently developed here, that many mounted policemen seem to have been trained to the principle that the most important phase of traffic enforcement is writing the citation rather than guiding erring motorists in the path of righteousness.
A man was nudged to the side in the southwest section by an officer who said he’d gone through a red light. The driver said he was certain he’d made it on the yellow. Everyone knows who wins that one.
| AS THE OFFICER stood writing the ticket a flash came over the police radio that a nearby bank was being held up. The officer admonished the driver to follow him to the address. When he was through there, he said, he would finish the ticket.
As the officer took off there was great soul searching between the motorist and his wife. “Don’t go,” she said. He said he felt he should, even though he didn’t think he’d run the red light. “Maybe there’ll be shooting,” his wife said. “He has no right to endanger our lives.” The husband said they’d have to take a chance — Nervously they approached the bank. But there was no shooting. It turned out to be a false alarm. And the motorist held still while the officer completed the ticket. ::
A MAN WHO was unwillingly retired recently at 65 sums up his case — and
doubtlessly that of many others — this way: “If only I could find something to do after breakfast, when I used to leave for work. That’s the worst time of day.” ::
ESPECIALLY PURPLE
::
SHARKS, real or fancied, are getting the headlines this summer but Bob Lee
contends there’s a greater menace. While standing hip-deep in the surf at Newport he was twice bowled over by unseen objects that proved to be body surfers (no surfboards) coming in with the breakers. So, bruised shins . . .Speaking of menaces, a fireman on the phone says morbidly curious people wouldn’t flock to fires if radio and TV announcers didn’t give the exact locations. He suggests they name only the general area . . . Another man says the way to discourage them is for firemen to turn their hoses on them. ::
THE WHERE Do We Go From Here Society will come to order. Remember way back before anyone heard of status seekers, when the common goal was simply a
chicken in every pot and two cars in every garage? Now it seems to be a pool in every yard. What next? Otilia Martin thinks it’ll be a helicopter on every roof. ::
SOMETIMES all the futility of existence is compressed into a single outraged fragment. A youth turned away from a bar as obviously underage was overheard by ::
OOPS, John Cornell picked up a youth fellowship manual in a church and in the
back flyleaf discovered the following penciled evidence that two young ladies hadn’t been paying strict attention to the class discussion: “Look at Betty’s sexy sweater! Pretty cute, eh?” “And how!” ::
MISCELLANY — Re: movie cliches, Al O’Hara says let us not forget the bit of silliness wherein someone receives a threat over the phone and frantically jiggles the hook and shouts, “Hello! Hello! Hello!” when the caller hangs up. Everyone knows when the connection is broken there’s nobody there but us dial tones . . . Recommended listening: Pearl Bailey singing “You Can Be Replaced” on her “For Adults Only” album, also presumably at the Grove . . . Overheard by Frank Barron: “Look at it this way — every cloud has its fall-out!”
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