A figure of respect
This is a story of how to make unnecessary trouble for yourself.
I had just parked my car and got out when a big Audi pulled up and a lady got out and went across the road. I expected that the driver would have driven off to park on a side street as he was seriously interrupting the flow of traffic. A policeman across the street was trying to get the attention of the driver, who I'm sure was aware but ignored him nevertheless. Finally, the policeman crossed over the street and knocked on the window pane and asked the driver why was he ignoring the policeman's signal to move on.
The driver stated that he was waiting for his wife who had gone into the bank. The policeman said that he was clearly causing a traffic jam and that he was directed to move his car and park it on a side street. I guess the driver considered himself someone who was above the law. He decided to reprimand the policeman for being "so unreasonable." Wrong!
He got an earful about the fact that the policeman was an authority figure and an agent of the law, and that the driver had better consider his next response very carefully or he was about to go to the cop shop for a chat. Fortunately, the driver came to his senses and apologised and obeyed.
To begin with, he could clearly see the inconvenience he was causing by being double parked, but he didn't give a damn. Once it was obvious a policeman was instructing him to move on the order should have been complied with immediately. Why complicate the issue by getting in an argument with a cop.
Some people really do know how to complicate their lives!
Copyright (c) 2013 Eugene Carmichael
