I have a friend who, in the past, has found it all too easy to push my gullibility button … he tells me wild stories as fact and enjoys my trusting innocence for an hour or so. He then tells me he was pulling my leg. :rolleyes:
Coupla days ago he told me something which rang alarm bells, and I didn’t believe him. But he is still insisting this to be true. So I thought I’d run it past the Dopers for confirmation, or at least to bring a little amusement to the SDMB at this festive time of year. What he told me was this:
A very old law of England/Great Britain/UK (or possibly a London byelaw) stated that if a pregnant woman approached a police officer and declared herself desperate to urinate, said officer was obliged to proffer his helmet for the purpose. And this law has never been revoked! :eek:
I have searched the SDMB, and Googled every which way I can think of (urinate + helmet was unwise), but to no avail. So come on Dopers, anyone heard of this? I sooo want it to be true.
It is impossible to prove that there isn’t a law that says that birds who are up the duff can piss in a coppers hat. However just how likely do you think it is that the Victorians passed such a law?
And rememebring my own dear lady wife when she was pregnant, a coppers helmet wouldn’t have been big enough!
This site has lots of pics of helmets thru the ages … the first one I found which goes a way back (Essex County Constabulary 1840 to 1969 ) would appear to be ample enough for a piss-pot, even if it had holes around the badge as you describe.
Can you tell I’m desperate for this to be true? (Otherwise there goes my New Years Eve plans, complete with cushion up the jumper … )
In the area covered by the Met in 1829, if a bird with egyptian flu wanted a gypsy’s (or even an Eartha) they would just have had it in the street. On top of the horseshit.
They would not have found it necessary to search out a bobby.
From the UK, I have no idea if this is true, but it certainly exists as urban folklore over here. Once, on a demonstration I remember trying so hard to make a pregnant friend ask the nearest copper…
Your friend din’t make this up and it’s not first time I’ve heard this either (I think it’s own a website that lists silly laws country by country), but whether or not it’s an urban legend I don’t know.
I thought that in pregnant women the bladder was compressed because of the space taken up by baby, uterinal fluid, etc., so that there was less storage space available in the bladder, thus they have to urinate more often. So it would seem to me that pregnant women would have less urine than other women. More frequent, but less output!
Or am I misunderstanding something here? (I will certainly never know from personal experience!) Do pregnant women drink a lot more fluids, and thus urinate more because of that?
I think this may be a bit of a chinese whisper.
I have heard that pregnant women are 1 of only 2 groups of people that can’t be arrested for urinating in public. I have never heard of them being allowed to use a policeman’s helmet.
The version I heard is that pregnant women are allowed to urinate in public over a drain in the gutter so maybe a policeman is obliged to use his helmet to ‘preserve the woman’s decency’!
To save intrigue, the other group that can piss in public are taxi drivers as long as they go against the rear passenger side wheel.
On a related issue:
Civil liberties groups have expressed concern over plans by a police force to install cameras in officer’s helmets. Here is more information.
I leave it up to you to make up your own jokes:)
According to a very amusing and interesting book called The Good Loo Guide the said law states that a woman in need may ask a policeman to cover her with his coat while she is doing her business in the gutter.
Which makes a good deal more sense. Bobbies on the beat used to wear a cape (at least in bad weather) similar to the kind that some cyclists use, which would be ideal for the purpose.
to Owl …