You mentioned being caught with pot -- well, here's the kicker for me: I do not use illegal drugs! I drink, yes! (God yes) - but no illegal drugs. No arrest record, either. (Unfortunately in some activist circles this means you are not as hardcore or something. :/)
The irony: I have been searched more times for illegal drugs than I care to count. I try to let it go because if I filed civil liberties suits in each case I'd be dealing with the courts the rest of my life. Cops always find zilch -- cuz I have none! (Sometimes I think this pisses them off even more than if they found stuff on me.) In the middle of Texas, en route from Arizona to Dallas, these two State Troopers -- real pricks -- held me for over an hour and found a bottle of Aspirin after I stupidly consented to let them search my car. They had such bad attitudes that I thought at one point were about to arrest me just so they could analyze the aspirin, to see if it was real. I thought it might actually happen. Somehow I calmed down enough to sort of sweet talk them out of it, or something. But I had a lot of piled up clothes in my backseat and those got strewn on the highway side during their ravenous search, and they drove off and left me to put all my clothes back in my car, dirty, some of them ruined.
Now, at a protest in front of the Dallas City Police HQ we were photographed, videotaped, even infiltrated by a guy who looked like he was trying to be so "street" it was hilarious. (Black sunglasses, black $2 skull bandanna that looked like it came from a minute mart, wrapped around his neck, no one had seen him before, etc.) Police cars were parked across the parking lot from us, just waiting for something to pounce on. (We protested how the Dallas PD had treated an African-American woman.) I was wearing a red CNT-FAI t-shirt I got from an anarchist shop in Boston. Maybe a bad choice of wear, but, hell, we're supposed to be free in the USA to wear t shirts with vague-looking symbols, right? A cop came up and specifically took a picture of me wearing that t-shirt, close up. That was awkward. I was like, "Is there some way you want me to pose for these pictures?" I wonder where the hell those photos are now. Thankfully -- no arrests. I've managed to avoid them somehow.
One of our troupe did actually walk across the street to ask why the police cars were parked there, observing us. A fair question, and this was done by a petite girl in a very non-threatening manner. It wasn't me in spikes and leather with a mohawk or something -- just a cute younger gal who "looked mainstream." She came back to us and said the cop in the front seat had a 12 gauge in his lap, and they weren't going anywhere 'til after we did. Sort of chilling.
Ah, war stories!
Anyway, time for Xanax and Jim Beam! Good night!
-B.
Dennis Perrin wrote:
> BTW, we did have weed. About an ounce. I shoved the
bag inside an 8-track tape cassette under the driver's
seat. My car was such a sty that there were not only
dozens of 8-tracks strewn all over, but fast food
wrappers and empty soda cans on top of all that.
Without a dog, that cop was screwed. And my friend and
I celebrated when we reached our temporary lodgings
near the city. We had a good time.
>
> Dennis
>
>