Tuesday, December 8, 2015

You'll never gain weight from a doughnut hole

Look here and here for updates on a wacky Providence kerfuffle.

Okay, now here's my thing. If I'd been there at the time there's a good chance I would have told the young barista not to go there. We're all grownups here. No reason to assume that just because someone is on the police department they must have a problem with black people.

Except. Except. She made a rather unassuming, entirely unthreatening gesture of writing #blacklivesmatter on a coffee cup. Suddenly there's a push to get her fired? Led by a...colorful media personality with ties to the department. I mean, this must have gotten out somehow. Somebody chose to make it a vendetta.

So on the other hand, you can't really assume they don't have a problem with black people either.

Also, the "dancing cop" act may have been cute at first, but at some point these antics made traffic go slower than if there were no traffic at all, which could be annoying.

2 comments:

susan said...

Good title as usual.

If you'd been there at the time you would have done well to advise her against doing that. It sounds to me like silliness and immaturity all the way round. Between an underage girl and a superannuated traffic cop we got another ten minute kerfluffle on the intertubes that essentially meant nothing. If only there could be agreement that all lives matter and we need to get on with the business of seeing to that.

From the video on the Boston Globe it looks as if our 'dancing policeman' became a little too delighted by his own act. The lying down in the street part looked especially risky.

Ben said...

Thank you. I had trouble thinking of a title so I took a lyric from a Tori Amos song.

Black people have every right to organize/demonstrate when their needs aren't being met. And in many cases those needs are the opposite of being met. But it is true that some times/places are better than others. Then of course it just got out of hand.

Yeah, lying down in the street isn't terribly wise. Trucks will have a hard time seeing you no matter how flamboyant you are.