See something, say something... unless...

245

Comments

  • PJPOWER
    PJPOWER Posts: 6,499
    Instead of people being afraid to say something, my worry is how much is missed because people are distracting by their cell phones pretty much 95% of their day.
  • Bentleyspop
    Bentleyspop Craft Beer Brewery, Colorado Posts: 11,511
    PJPOWER said:
    Instead of people being afraid to say something, my worry is how much is smissed because people are distracting by their cell phones pretty much 95% of their day.
    Wait
    What?
    Sorry I was liking  a really cute cat video  on facebook
  • PJPOWER
    PJPOWER Posts: 6,499
    Bentleyspop said:
    PJPOWER said:
    Instead of people being afraid to say something, my worry is how much is smissed because people are distracting by their cell phones pretty much 95% of their day.
    Wait
    What?
    Sorry I was liking  a really cute cat video  on facebook
    Exactly, lol
  • pjhawks
    pjhawks Posts: 12,955
    I would not have called the police for it but the BBQ incident they were doing something they weren't supposed to be doing. I have no problem with saying something if i see something. better to be safe than sorry...unless...
  • HughFreakingDillon
    HughFreakingDillon Winnipeg Posts: 39,736
    pjhawks said:
    I would not have called the police for it but the BBQ incident they were doing something they weren't supposed to be doing. I have no problem with saying something if i see something. better to be safe than sorry...unless...
    yes, but would she have called the cops if it was a bunch of cardigan-wearing blonde people? who knows. 
    By The Time They Figure Out What Went Wrong, We'll Be Sitting On A Beach, Earning Twenty Percent.




  • pjhawks
    pjhawks Posts: 12,955
    HughFreakingDillon said:
    pjhawks said:
    I would not have called the police for it but the BBQ incident they were doing something they weren't supposed to be doing. I have no problem with saying something if i see something. better to be safe than sorry...unless...
    yes, but would she have called the cops if it was a bunch of cardigan-wearing blonde people? who knows. 
    obviously we will never know that but might be a good idea to be careful before labeling someone racist these days. not everyone who calls the police on black people are being racist.  i think that is where the tone is moving to these days.  we have to be careful not to go to far in either direction...calling too much or calling not at all.
  • HughFreakingDillon
    HughFreakingDillon Winnipeg Posts: 39,736
    pjhawks said:
    HughFreakingDillon said:
    pjhawks said:
    I would not have called the police for it but the BBQ incident they were doing something they weren't supposed to be doing. I have no problem with saying something if i see something. better to be safe than sorry...unless...
    yes, but would she have called the cops if it was a bunch of cardigan-wearing blonde people? who knows. 
    obviously we will never know that but might be a good idea to be careful before labeling someone racist these days. not everyone who calls the police on black people are being racist.  i think that is where the tone is moving to these days.  we have to be careful not to go to far in either direction...calling too much or calling not at all.
    I agree with you...hence the "who knows". 
    By The Time They Figure Out What Went Wrong, We'll Be Sitting On A Beach, Earning Twenty Percent.




  • OnWis97
    OnWis97 St. Paul, MN Posts: 5,633
    The Yale story as well.  White student calls the cops on a black woman who fell asleep in the common area of the dorm (in which she's a resident).  Apparently this is the white student's second time calling the police on someone for, I don't know, "being while black." 

    https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/09/us/yale-student-napping-black-trnd/index.html

    There are a lot of stories out there.  It's either a trend or it's simply being covered more, but it's common for white people to get nervous and call the cops when black people are around.  

    And in this case, the cops spent a lot of time with her making sure she actually lived there.  Her using the key to open the door did not convince them.  

    This is a reality being black in white-dominated places.  Someone may call the cops. And if they do, the cops may take up a lot of your time (or worse).  
    1995 Milwaukee     1998 Alpine, Alpine     2003 Albany, Boston, Boston, Boston     2004 Boston, Boston     2006 Hartford, St. Paul (Petty), St. Paul (Petty)     2011 Alpine, Alpine     
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  • PJ_Soul
    PJ_Soul Vancouver, BC Posts: 50,756
    pjhawks said:
    HughFreakingDillon said:
    pjhawks said:
    I would not have called the police for it but the BBQ incident they were doing something they weren't supposed to be doing. I have no problem with saying something if i see something. better to be safe than sorry...unless...
    yes, but would she have called the cops if it was a bunch of cardigan-wearing blonde people? who knows. 
    obviously we will never know that but might be a good idea to be careful before labeling someone racist these days. not everyone who calls the police on black people are being racist.  i think that is where the tone is moving to these days.  we have to be careful not to go to far in either direction...calling too much or calling not at all.
    Hell, even if she isn't racist, she deserves to be publicly shamed just for calling the cops about anyone using charcoal instead of propane. That's ridiculous, and at the very least I hope people learn that you don't go calling the cops for stupid shit like that. Not unless you maybe live in Mayberry or something, where the cops literally have nothing better to do.
    With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy. ~ Desiderata
  • Go Beavers
    Go Beavers Posts: 9,615
    Somethings become suspicious after the fact. If I was working in my garage through the night repetitively, my neighbors would say it’s annoying, not suspicious.  It’s natural to change meaning to something in hindsight so we don’t look like a dipstick. 
  • HughFreakingDillon
    HughFreakingDillon Winnipeg Posts: 39,736
    Go Beavers said:
    Somethings become suspicious after the fact. If I was working in my garage through the night repetitively, my neighbors would say it’s annoying, not suspicious.  It’s natural to change meaning to something in hindsight so we don’t look like a dipstick. 
    but if I saw a husband and wife doing it together and getting deliveries at that time of night, darn tootin' I'd be wondering WTF is going on, regardless of skin colour. 
    By The Time They Figure Out What Went Wrong, We'll Be Sitting On A Beach, Earning Twenty Percent.




  • tbergs
    tbergs Posts: 10,455
    pjhawks said:
    HughFreakingDillon said:
    pjhawks said:
    I would not have called the police for it but the BBQ incident they were doing something they weren't supposed to be doing. I have no problem with saying something if i see something. better to be safe than sorry...unless...
    yes, but would she have called the cops if it was a bunch of cardigan-wearing blonde people? who knows. 
    obviously we will never know that but might be a good idea to be careful before labeling someone racist these days. not everyone who calls the police on black people are being racist.  i think that is where the tone is moving to these days.  we have to be careful not to go to far in either direction...calling too much or calling not at all.
    They may not be racist or openly biased in their views, but their unconscious bias is interfering with their decision making. It comes down to the totality of circumstances, which isn't being applied in these situations.

    It's a hopeless situation...
  • PJ_Soul
    PJ_Soul Vancouver, BC Posts: 50,756
    edited May 2018
    HughFreakingDillon said:
    Go Beavers said:
    Somethings become suspicious after the fact. If I was working in my garage through the night repetitively, my neighbors would say it’s annoying, not suspicious.  It’s natural to change meaning to something in hindsight so we don’t look like a dipstick. 
    but if I saw a husband and wife doing it together and getting deliveries at that time of night, darn tootin' I'd be wondering WTF is going on, regardless of skin colour. 
    Yes... and that is where common sense comes in, right? People need to develop the wisdom to understand what is actually suspicious behaviour vs. a non-white person doing something normal.
    Post edited by PJ_Soul on
    With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy. ~ Desiderata
  • HughFreakingDillon
    HughFreakingDillon Winnipeg Posts: 39,736
    PJ_Soul said:
    HughFreakingDillon said:
    Go Beavers said:
    Somethings become suspicious after the fact. If I was working in my garage through the night repetitively, my neighbors would say it’s annoying, not suspicious.  It’s natural to change meaning to something in hindsight so we don’t look like a dipstick. 
    but if I saw a husband and wife doing it together and getting deliveries at that time of night, darn tootin' I'd be wondering WTF is going on, regardless of skin colour. 
    Yes... and that is where common sense comes in, right? People need to develop the wisdom to understand what is actually suspicious behaviour vs. a non-white person doing something normal.
    we unfortunately are being programmed to live in a culture of fear, so it's very difficult to think objectively and critically when you think your (or others') lives might be in imminent danger. 

    fear + personal biases = social chaos
    By The Time They Figure Out What Went Wrong, We'll Be Sitting On A Beach, Earning Twenty Percent.




  • tbergs
    tbergs Posts: 10,455
    HughFreakingDillon said:
    Go Beavers said:
    Somethings become suspicious after the fact. If I was working in my garage through the night repetitively, my neighbors would say it’s annoying, not suspicious.  It’s natural to change meaning to something in hindsight so we don’t look like a dipstick. 
    but if I saw a husband and wife doing it together and getting deliveries at that time of night, darn tootin' I'd be wondering WTF is going on, regardless of skin colour. 
    Right, but that would require a pattern to be developed. You may think it's a little weird the first night, but the continued activity is what would make it suspicious, especially if it was a change from the known behavior they had already established and you'd come to expect.

    That just makes me wonder what about these situations is making someone call the police on a first time instance? Is it a preconceived idea based on other incidents they've encountered or related to how that person looks. We've each got a threshold that tips us to call based on our life experiences, implicit fear, bias, etc. Someone who has been the victim of a robbery at night while on a walk may tend to be more over cautious about calling in or reporting people that remind them of their own incident, while I might not even think twice about it.
    It's a hopeless situation...
  • dankind
    dankind Posts: 20,841
    edited May 2018
    In the very tony town next to mine, people call the cops when they see a black person just walking down the sidewalk. I see it in the town's police blotter all the time. It doesn't make national headlines, but perhaps it should.

    I took one of my black friends who was visiting me to a bar there -- at the time, my town didn't have a single bar other than the bar at Uno's -- and they looked at him like he was the grim reaper.
    Post edited by dankind on
    I SAW PEARL JAM
  • Go Beavers
    Go Beavers Posts: 9,615
    HughFreakingDillon said:
    Go Beavers said:
    Somethings become suspicious after the fact. If I was working in my garage through the night repetitively, my neighbors would say it’s annoying, not suspicious.  It’s natural to change meaning to something in hindsight so we don’t look like a dipstick. 
    but if I saw a husband and wife doing it together and getting deliveries at that time of night, darn tootin' I'd be wondering WTF is going on, regardless of skin colour. 
    And sometimes people will talk themselves into not responding, and then after the fact make up a reason for their passivity. What sounds better to the press, saying you just don’t get involved in other people’s business, or I didn’t want to be called a racist?  I guess I’m saying I don’t always accept someone’s reason for not getting involved. 
  • HughFreakingDillon
    HughFreakingDillon Winnipeg Posts: 39,736
    tbergs said:
    HughFreakingDillon said:
    Go Beavers said:
    Somethings become suspicious after the fact. If I was working in my garage through the night repetitively, my neighbors would say it’s annoying, not suspicious.  It’s natural to change meaning to something in hindsight so we don’t look like a dipstick. 
    but if I saw a husband and wife doing it together and getting deliveries at that time of night, darn tootin' I'd be wondering WTF is going on, regardless of skin colour. 
    Right, but that would require a pattern to be developed. You may think it's a little weird the first night, but the continued activity is what would make it suspicious, especially if it was a change from the known behavior they had already established and you'd come to expect.

    That just makes me wonder what about these situations is making someone call the police on a first time instance? Is it a preconceived idea based on other incidents they've encountered or related to how that person looks. We've each got a threshold that tips us to call based on our life experiences, implicit fear, bias, etc. Someone who has been the victim of a robbery at night while on a walk may tend to be more over cautious about calling in or reporting people that remind them of their own incident, while I might not even think twice about it.
    well of course I wouldn't think anything of it the first night, or maybe even a few nights. 

    fear. media-driven fear. 
    By The Time They Figure Out What Went Wrong, We'll Be Sitting On A Beach, Earning Twenty Percent.




  • pjhawks
    pjhawks Posts: 12,955
    PJ_Soul said:
    pjhawks said:
    HughFreakingDillon said:
    pjhawks said:
    I would not have called the police for it but the BBQ incident they were doing something they weren't supposed to be doing. I have no problem with saying something if i see something. better to be safe than sorry...unless...
    yes, but would she have called the cops if it was a bunch of cardigan-wearing blonde people? who knows. 
    obviously we will never know that but might be a good idea to be careful before labeling someone racist these days. not everyone who calls the police on black people are being racist.  i think that is where the tone is moving to these days.  we have to be careful not to go to far in either direction...calling too much or calling not at all.
    Hell, even if she isn't racist, she deserves to be publicly shamed just for calling the cops about anyone using charcoal instead of propane. That's ridiculous, and at the very least I hope people learn that you don't go calling the cops for stupid shit like that. Not unless you maybe live in Mayberry or something, where the cops literally have nothing better to do.
    no she does not.  so breaking the rules is ok but calling the police on someone breaking the rules because they are black and you are white deserves public shaming?  come on that's a stretch to me.   Again in no way would I have called the police or even cared one bit in this situation but I don't think she should be publicly shamed either.  
  • PJ_Soul
    PJ_Soul Vancouver, BC Posts: 50,756
    edited May 2018
    pjhawks said:
    PJ_Soul said:
    pjhawks said:
    HughFreakingDillon said:
    pjhawks said:
    I would not have called the police for it but the BBQ incident they were doing something they weren't supposed to be doing. I have no problem with saying something if i see something. better to be safe than sorry...unless...
    yes, but would she have called the cops if it was a bunch of cardigan-wearing blonde people? who knows. 
    obviously we will never know that but might be a good idea to be careful before labeling someone racist these days. not everyone who calls the police on black people are being racist.  i think that is where the tone is moving to these days.  we have to be careful not to go to far in either direction...calling too much or calling not at all.
    Hell, even if she isn't racist, she deserves to be publicly shamed just for calling the cops about anyone using charcoal instead of propane. That's ridiculous, and at the very least I hope people learn that you don't go calling the cops for stupid shit like that. Not unless you maybe live in Mayberry or something, where the cops literally have nothing better to do.
    no she does not.  so breaking the rules is ok but calling the police on someone breaking the rules because they are black and you are white deserves public shaming?  come on that's a stretch to me.   Again in no way would I have called the police or even cared one bit in this situation but I don't think she should be publicly shamed either.  
    Well, it was admittedly easy to say because I 100% believe it was about her being racist.
    But still, yeah, I think only a complete busybody moron would call the cops for this in any case, and I have no problem with busybody morons doing stupid shit that negatively impacts other people being called out on it publicly.
    With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy. ~ Desiderata

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