Victorously Vindicated Vicariously

When I was a young man it seemed that I got picked out by the police a lot in Newport Beach CA where I lived at the time. I had long hair and a beard like most young men of my age and generation. All of us young men were targeted and profiled.

Walking home at night from my job of washing dishes at a local dinner house, plain clothes detectives would stop me and 'frisk' me. It seemed to happen a couple of times a week. I never liked it because they would always grab my private parts while looking for 'weapons,' I knew they were doing it to cause me discomfort. I would always go away feeling violated and shamed. They were evil perverts!

As I got old enough to drive the abuse continued.

One time while driving my old 64' Ford econoline van around a curve in the road, a police officer pulled me over. He had been parked in a parking lot on the backside of a blind curve. My old van could only do a top speed of about 60. He said he had clocked me on his radar going 80+.

I was actually only doing 30. The sad thing was there was no way his radar could see around the corner of the curve anyway. Once again I was profiled and abused like so many other of my generation had been.

When I appeared for the ticket, the judge threw the book at me, a fine plus what he called 'penalty assessments' that resulted in a lot of money. I was totally innocent and set up and it cost me a lot. This sort of thing happened frequently to me until I got wise and shaved and got a haircut. HA! I was no longer targeted even though I still had long hair in my heart...LOL.

Now here is another young man that had been set upon by corrupt powers that be, much the same as I was. Only this time he has a solid defense other than his own word...makes me feel great just knowing that at least once justice was truly served:

"According to a release issued by Rocky Mountain Tracking, an 18-year old man, Shaun Malone, was able to successfully contest a speeding ticket in court using the data from a GPS device installed in his car. This wasn't just any old make-a-left-turn-100-feet-ahead-onto-Maple-Street GPS; this was a vehicle-tracking GPS device — the kind used by trucking fleets — or in this case, overprotective parents. The device was installed in Malone's car by his parents, and the press release makes no mention if the teenager knew that the device was installed in his vehicle at the time." 

I wonder how today's generation of  tattooed and pierced young men are doing? I was able to shave and get a haircut to stop the abuse. Not so easy for today's young men...