Not such a great day

I need to look at this cute little baby swan to help me calm down from the events of today.

I wasn't born yesterday..or last week for that matter so I pretty much know how things work in this world. I have grown up seeing racial discrimination, sexual discrimination, and social discrimination. Today I witnessed profiling by our local police department and I have no words to defend their actions to myself, much less my kids...more importantly, my son who had it happen to him. I pulled into the Walgreen's parking lot this afternoon to pick Kris and Betina up from school...like every day. Sitting off to the side, parked in a red zone, was a police Ford Explorer. I was on my cell talking to my mother and I mentioned at the time that it appeared they were probably lying in wait for someone. Little did I know. I pull into my usual spot and the next thing I know, this police car and a motorcycle cop have pulled my son (who is walking across the street holding his girlfriends hand) out of this small group of high schoolers aside. I jump out of my car straight away and walk towards the officers asking them what they're doing. I'm approached by one officer who loudly instructs me to return to my vehicle. I reply that he has my son who is a minor and I want to know what's going on. "Return to your vehicle and he'll join you shortly." Oh, I don't think so. I informed him that I was not going anywhere and he had best tell me what the hell is going on. He proceeds to tell me that if I don't do so, he will arrest me for "impeding" ????????????? I stand my ground and am told that he is writing a ticket for my son for jay walking. What????? So I ask why they didn't stop the other kids crossing the street with my son or the 9 kids who were walking by that very second right in front of them. He told me not to worry about it...and they were busy with my son. I really came unglued at this point. This is a police department who was under investagation a few years ago for nearly beating an 82 year old man to death for a minor traffic violation because he was told to sit on the ground and the man stated he had a disability and could not. He was taken to the local hospital emergency room with a broken hip and two broken ribs a short time later. But I digress.....

I repeatedly ask this one officer for his name and badge number and not only would he not respond to me, he turned his back to me. I had to literally walk over to him and step in front of him so as to see his name tag. Since Kris is a minor there is no fine, but there is a court date. I immediately called my hubby and told him he needed to call his brother (judge) his dad (attorney) and sister-in-law (attorney) Seriously, I cannot remember being so angry.

Why do I think Kris was picked out of this crowd? Because he has long hair and wears black clothing. Hey, that must mean he does drugs and wants to follow in the footsteps of those deeply disturbed kids from Columbine High School in Colorado, right? Why was his girlfriend told to keep walking to her car? Why didn't all of them receive a citation?

Needless to say I placed a call to the city attorney's office (who is a personal friend of my husband's) and will file a formal complaint with the internal affairs division tomorrow. I still cannot believe that out of probably 40 kids who were also jay walking, not one word was said to them. Nothing like, "You kids cross at the light." nothing. When I kept saying, "Why don't you write all these kids up too?" his response was, "We have this one." Guess we'll see where this goes. Do I understand that it is dangerous for my son to not cross the street at the cross walk? Yes, I do. The speed limit is 15mph for a good reason and with the light being a good 400 feet away, not many of the kids take the time to walk all the way down to the light to cross. Especially when it's hot outside like today.

I need a mojito. hehe. maybe two.