Come on fess up here, have you ever done it? According to some reports people have been doing it since the ancient Roman empire. I havedone it. Several times. Sometimes I even do it when I am driving but not lately because you never know who has a gun as a passenger. I did it when I was as younger than high school age. And after age of consent. However, I have never done it in the front of or toward a police officer. To me that would just be insane. Free speech or insanity? That is the first question of the day after reading the following article:
http://www.oregonlive.com/clackamascounty/index.ssf/2010/02/clackamas_man_exercises_free_s.html
Now the good story of the day. Let's take a moment to celebrate a segment of our population that often gets a bad rap, teens. Get the tissues out.
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/03/molalla_school_lesson_learning_share.html
Could you make the decision that young gal had to make? Could you have chosen among the three families? I wouldn't have been able to.
Hope this is a day when nobody in your circle participates in digitus impudicus and that the decisions you make are easy ones.
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4 comments:
I'm not a big digitus impudicus person, and have probably only done it once or twice and as a side comment, invisible to the, uh, recipient. To do it to a cop is for sure "rude and ill-advised", and I'd hope there might be better ways for this guy to protest what he sees as police misconduct.
I could probably have chosen among the three families if I had to, though I might have resorted to names out of a hat. Whatever, I think she made the right decision, and it is lovely that the teens did all this. Teens do get a bad rap, but there has always been a large silent majority that behave themselves and try to do the right thing(s).
I don't recall instances of using the "single digit salute," although I'm sure there must have been some.
I think the issue of the guy and the cops isn't so much a freedom of speech thing as it is another example of how civility, manners, common sense and treating others well has faltered. Giving every cop the finger is rude and makes no sense - not all cops are to blame for the actions of one or two. He'd be much better served to write letters to the editors, the police chief, the commissioner. Does he deserve a ticket or citation? If he didn't break a law, no. Do the officers deserve the insult and indignity? No. Can the world continue to ignore good manners, common sense, charity and kindness? Not if we want to continue to exist.
As to the story of the teens, it was wonderful. What a difficult decision for them to make. I applaud them not only for their fund raising efforts and contributions, but for the courage it takes to make decisions that are, obviously, extremely difficult.
Hi DR
The face that you don't recall instances of using the "single digit salute," tells me it has been forever since you have done it, if ever!
I agree with you about manners etc and his protest is going on dead ears because he is protesting the wrong police department. We need to start a good manners movement!
The teens in the article have both my love and respect.
Bill
Hi Pat
I am sometimes the digitus guy when I am driving, as to the guy in the article the thing that I find troubling in all of the incidents that he mentions that he is protesting were done by a police department different than the ones he was flipping off. The Portland Police are awful, poorly trained in deadly force situations and dealing with the mentally ill. Those cases had them shooting an unarmed man and fatally beating up an mentally ill person. They have several out of court settlements for excessive force. Even other police departments are hammering them, they had a hostage situation in suburb here that ended peacefully, the department was quoted as saying, "he would be dead if he was in Portland." So he is protesting the wrong departments, actually one of the good ones, and doing it in a childish way.
I also think the teen made the right decision. And you are right most teens are good.
Bill
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