Mystillate's Cabinet of Loathsome Curiosities
The effing Man, man...
I don't know what the situation is where you live, but here in Michigan, we have a seatbelt law that's heavily enforced and it's getting heavier all the time. The cops pick a town and set up these random "Seatbelt Enforcement Zones". Dozens of the little porkers swagger up and down in between cars at red lights and check to make sure everyone's wearing their seatbelts. If you're not, they take down your license plate number and order you to pull over when the light turns green so that they can issue you a ticket. The fine is, I believe, $65.
This kind of nonsense infuriates me.
I am an adult. I understand the risks involved if I don't wear my seatbelt. I DO NOT need Big Brother to keep me in line. It's not about keeping people safe. It's about bringing in more revenue for the state. Not only in fines, but federal money. The state gets somewhere between 5 and 7 million dollars a year from Uncle Sam for aggressively enforcing seatbelt laws. This is absolutely shameful. What's next, Uncle Sam? Imroper toilet paper utilization fines? Perhaps they should start patrolling restaurants to make sure everyone is chewing every bite the required 32 times. My God, do you have any idea how many anal chafing and choking injuries we could avoid?
What really pisses me off are the commercials. Tough-looking mustachioed cops in sunglasses writing tickets while the smarmy voice-over tells us that we'd bloody well better wear our seatbelts, OR ELSE. This is nothing more than highway robbery. I say drop the pretense and just start letting the cops pull you over and issue tickets just for the hell of it.
"Do you know why I pulled you over?"
"No, officer."
"No reason really. Hand over your money."
The best part is, your taxes pay for all of this jackassery.
This kind of nonsense infuriates me.
I am an adult. I understand the risks involved if I don't wear my seatbelt. I DO NOT need Big Brother to keep me in line. It's not about keeping people safe. It's about bringing in more revenue for the state. Not only in fines, but federal money. The state gets somewhere between 5 and 7 million dollars a year from Uncle Sam for aggressively enforcing seatbelt laws. This is absolutely shameful. What's next, Uncle Sam? Imroper toilet paper utilization fines? Perhaps they should start patrolling restaurants to make sure everyone is chewing every bite the required 32 times. My God, do you have any idea how many anal chafing and choking injuries we could avoid?
What really pisses me off are the commercials. Tough-looking mustachioed cops in sunglasses writing tickets while the smarmy voice-over tells us that we'd bloody well better wear our seatbelts, OR ELSE. This is nothing more than highway robbery. I say drop the pretense and just start letting the cops pull you over and issue tickets just for the hell of it.
"Do you know why I pulled you over?"
"No, officer."
"No reason really. Hand over your money."
The best part is, your taxes pay for all of this jackassery.
posted by Mystillate at 19:39
4 Comments:
Oh man, you nailed that commercial. I am also from the D and I've seen and heard those awful commercials. The radio ads are way worse than the tv ones though. Have you heard those? They have that INCREDIBLY LOUD siren...whoo whoo whoo...then the cop (bad actor) trying to sound like he's got brass balls and shit while he condescendingly tells you that you are going to be BUSTED. Lame.
I was just clicking the "next blog" button on blogger and found your blog. How funny that the most entertaining blog I found was from some dude from the D. If you ever get bored click "next blog" and see how many horrifying blogs exist, but every now and then you find a gem. Rock on.
I'm just so very, very weary of being told what I can and can't do. "It's for your safety." "It's for the children's sake." "It's to protect us from the terrorists." I'm sick of worrying that if I go 3 mph over the speed limit or forget to use my turn signal, I won't make my mortgage payment. Meanwhile, the cops tear through side streets at 40 mph, never use their turn signals, and flick their lights on just to blow through red lights. Last autumn, we were cleaning out our garage and the ordinance warden cruised by and gave us a ticket for having debris in our driveway! And of course, the judge had no problem with that and gave us a stern talking to about being responsible citizens.
I'm sick of wondering if my phone calls are being monitored and whether anything I say could be misconstrued in some way. Welcome to the Age of Paranoia.
Yeah, some blogs can be pretty wretched, but at least people are talking, y'know? A friend of mine once said that no matter how lousy or obscure a band, there's at least one person out there that loves it more than any other. Much the same deal with blogs, I think. There's someone out there waiting with baited breath for the next installment of "The Adventures of a Soccer Mom". I just started this thing so that I could share some of the stuff I'm into and have a place to rant occasionally. I'm glad you dig it! Great to hear another voice outta Motown. Do you have a blog somewhere?
I don't really mind seatbelts. In Quebec, seatbelt regulations came into effect in the early 80s, so I was maybe 12 or 13 years old at the time. So I picked up the habit and now it's just automatic, when I get into a car, whether as a driver or a passenger, the first thing I do is put on my seatbelt. If tomorrow morning it became facultative, I would still wear it because it just doesn't bother me.
But I understand why you're pissed about it. As you say, as an adult, you understand the risks and it should be your choice. You're right. It is just about the cities making money.
Sonia
The American mindset is a little different. Not meant as a put-down, but I know many Windsorites and we go round and round about this sort of thing. It's not that I don't wear my seat belt; I do. It's the idea of being forced to wear it that pisses me the hell off. It's the idea that the State has decided what's good for me. That kind of thinking in government does not mesh well with our Constitution.
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