Scooter Cops Kick Ass!
Don't you just love it when a cop piloting one of those three of four wheel "scooter" type ATV's pulls someone over? Especially funny was a scene I witnessed yesterday.
A mongo SUV speeds down State Street. Its engine growls a warrior's cry, as it slices through the air and ejaculates fumes in its wake.
The SUV blurs past Lake Street. But wait! Sipping a cup of Dunkin Donuts coffee and looking as swarthy and immobile as an old-school union worker is: SCOOTER COP! Pissed that he has to move, he hops onto his parked three-wheeler without spilling a drop of his precious coffee. Bam! He punches the button that starts the scooter engine.
Vrooooom! Goes the SUV. Chug-Chug-Meep-Meep! goes the scooter. How can this tiny scooter possibly capture the SUV? It's simple really. This scooter also has flashing lights, a siren and a loudspeaker.
"YOU, IN THE SUV. PULL OVER, NOW!" says scooter cop over his loudspeaker.
The scene now: A huge SUV sits next to the curb; A tiny scooter is right behind the SUV, it's front wheel almost touching the SUV's back bumper. The driver of the SUV looks dejected. The Scooter Cop struts up to the SUV like a proud lion lording over its fresh kill. It's humiliating, really, to see this. Seeing this scooter wrangle this SUV into submission was akin to seeing a Chiuaua rape a Saint Bernard.
But then this got me to thinking about power in general. Power is a lot like money. Sure, a great deal of power is derived from money, but currency is like power in that for it to have meaning, enough people have to agree that it's true. How else can I hand over a green piece of paper to a complete stranger and get a cup of coffee in return? How else can a fat man on a scooter force a powerful SUV over to the side of the road? Enough people agree that the green piece of paper has value and enough people agree that the man on the scooter has the power to pull over the SUV. I know this is simplistic, and I'm certainly not arguing that Scooter Cop shouldn't have had the power to pull over the SUV.
Though this isn't a perfect society, I'm thankful everyday we do not live in a tribal society where "right" is determined simply by who has the biggest club. Or largest SUV. Most dictatorships derive their power by threat of or through actual physical force, and I am thankful that this is not the ideal in this country. I say "thank you" for doing your job, Scooter Cop. I am also very thankful that "power" (ideally) in this country has its checks and balances and is often derived from the consensus of individuals.
A mongo SUV speeds down State Street. Its engine growls a warrior's cry, as it slices through the air and ejaculates fumes in its wake.
The SUV blurs past Lake Street. But wait! Sipping a cup of Dunkin Donuts coffee and looking as swarthy and immobile as an old-school union worker is: SCOOTER COP! Pissed that he has to move, he hops onto his parked three-wheeler without spilling a drop of his precious coffee. Bam! He punches the button that starts the scooter engine.
Vrooooom! Goes the SUV. Chug-Chug-Meep-Meep! goes the scooter. How can this tiny scooter possibly capture the SUV? It's simple really. This scooter also has flashing lights, a siren and a loudspeaker.
"YOU, IN THE SUV. PULL OVER, NOW!" says scooter cop over his loudspeaker.
The scene now: A huge SUV sits next to the curb; A tiny scooter is right behind the SUV, it's front wheel almost touching the SUV's back bumper. The driver of the SUV looks dejected. The Scooter Cop struts up to the SUV like a proud lion lording over its fresh kill. It's humiliating, really, to see this. Seeing this scooter wrangle this SUV into submission was akin to seeing a Chiuaua rape a Saint Bernard.
But then this got me to thinking about power in general. Power is a lot like money. Sure, a great deal of power is derived from money, but currency is like power in that for it to have meaning, enough people have to agree that it's true. How else can I hand over a green piece of paper to a complete stranger and get a cup of coffee in return? How else can a fat man on a scooter force a powerful SUV over to the side of the road? Enough people agree that the green piece of paper has value and enough people agree that the man on the scooter has the power to pull over the SUV. I know this is simplistic, and I'm certainly not arguing that Scooter Cop shouldn't have had the power to pull over the SUV.
Though this isn't a perfect society, I'm thankful everyday we do not live in a tribal society where "right" is determined simply by who has the biggest club. Or largest SUV. Most dictatorships derive their power by threat of or through actual physical force, and I am thankful that this is not the ideal in this country. I say "thank you" for doing your job, Scooter Cop. I am also very thankful that "power" (ideally) in this country has its checks and balances and is often derived from the consensus of individuals.
posted by Rant-N-Roll at 1:29 PM
2 Comments:
Funny visual of the scooter cop vs. the suv, and a thoughtful post at the same time. You're a closet intellectual, aren't you.
That is too funny. I've never seen a scotter cop, but I hope I do someday.
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