# Don't know how to feel about this cop's question...
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-know-how-to-feel-about-this-cops-question/601263
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [October 30, 2011, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-know-how-to-feel-about-this-cops-question/601263 "2011-10-30T06:02:45Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)
#### Post date: [October 30, 2011, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-know-how-to-feel-about-this-cops-question/601263/41 "2011-10-30T18:57:07Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#):
>
> I read that as “in general - I drive a jetta and have mrAru get out of the trunk.” :eek:
>
> My aunt (in her 70’s) has one of [these](http://www.pridemobility.com/silverstar/images/models/Caddy--beauty.jpg) mounted on the back of her cars. It’s very easy to use, but it involves being able to hobble around to the back of your car under your own power or having someone with you. Hulluva a lot easier then trying to get a chair out of your trunk (or so I would imagine). The obvious downside being that if she gets caught in the rain without a tarp, it gets soaked. But she has no way of getting a chair in and out of the trunk on her own and she lives alone.
LOL if it is a crutch day, I don’t need a chair, if it is a chair day, I can’t hobble around to the trunk…
I swear, the next $80K I get that I don’t need to spend on anything else, I am getting a custom sprinter for road trips … I found a website where you can customize your own. I would kill to not have to gimp anywhere to use a toilet or get a snack … McDonalds or pretty much ever fast food other than Arby’s roast beef sarnies seem to make me spend quality toilet time :rolleyes: and the right custom sprinter would still fit into standard handicapped spaces 😃 though $11300 for an underbody chair lift is a _lot_ of cabbage ☹
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### Author:  [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)
#### Post date: [October 30, 2011, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-know-how-to-feel-about-this-cops-question/601263/42 "2011-10-30T18:58:54Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#):
>
> The cop can go fuck himself. Unless he moonlights as a physician (actually, even then) he isn’t in a place to determine whether you deserve your placard.
But he wasn’t trying to decide if he **deserved** it.
He was trying to figure out if it was the OPs. Like others said, the cop could have been pissy and wasted even more time asking for ID and running plates and such. Yeah, you don’t **have** to answer most cops question…but do you wanna get outa there fast or slow?
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### Author:  [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)
#### Post date: [October 30, 2011, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-know-how-to-feel-about-this-cops-question/601263/43 "2011-10-30T18:59:43Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#):
>
> And when I asked the young lady if she was in fact disabled (at the PF gym), that was _only after_ I witnessed her get out of her car, basically run into the gym, ambulate problem-free in the gym, work out and even _run on a tread mill_ inside the gym, without any trace of disability. And this is at a place of physical activity. The two situations are _not_ comparable.
Wasn’t your place to do it, though.
Besides, I was actually thinking of this [situation](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=620786). The one where you chased after a woman for not displaying her placard. If it pisses you off to have a policeman questioning you, imagine how obnoxious the rest of the world finds you.
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### Author:  [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)
#### Post date: [October 30, 2011, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-know-how-to-feel-about-this-cops-question/601263/44 "2011-10-30T19:09:42Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#):
>
> Wasn’t your place to do it, though.
>
> Besides, I was actually thinking of this [situation](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=620786). The one where you chased after a woman for not displaying her placard. If it pisses you off to have a policeman questioning you, imagine how obnoxious the rest of the world finds you.
You are comparing apples to oranges. Not comparable whatsoever. That lady _had no placard displayed._ And I don’t know where “chased her” came from, other than your own inaccurate description on my story, but all I did was ask her if she did have one.
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### Author:  [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)
#### Post date: [October 30, 2011, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-know-how-to-feel-about-this-cops-question/601263/45 "2011-10-30T19:15:56Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#):
>
> Actually, they are. The only difference is that your actions were even douchier than the cop’s because you have no authority at all.
Please explain, in detail, how they are comparable.
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### Author:  [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)
#### Post date: [October 30, 2011, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-know-how-to-feel-about-this-cops-question/601263/46 "2011-10-30T19:27:20Z")
Seriously, you’ve got some balls complaining about a cop looking to enforce handicap parking laws after all the stuff you’ve posted here.
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### Author:  [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)
#### Post date: [October 30, 2011, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-know-how-to-feel-about-this-cops-question/601263/47 "2011-10-30T19:28:56Z")
> [@treis](#):
>
> Seriously, you’ve got some balls complaining about a cop looking to enforce handicap parking laws after all the stuff you’ve posted here.
I am not complaining about the cop enforcing the laws; not at all. I am complaining about the cop’s behavior in the process of enforcing those laws.
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### Author:  [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)
#### Post date: [October 30, 2011, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-know-how-to-feel-about-this-cops-question/601263/48 "2011-10-30T19:29:23Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#):
>
> Please explain, in detail, how they are comparable.
Wow. Really?
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### Author:  [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)
#### Post date: [October 30, 2011, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-know-how-to-feel-about-this-cops-question/601263/49 "2011-10-30T19:30:02Z")
Newsflash! Jamie McGarry interacted with society and concluded it was victimising him!
Ambivalid, man, some people are just trying to get on with their lives and do their jobs. They can’t all spend 20 hours a day studying and memorising your rule book on how one must interact with you.
We all deal with rude or annoying people every day. We just deal with it.
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### Author:  [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)
#### Post date: [October 30, 2011, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-know-how-to-feel-about-this-cops-question/601263/50 "2011-10-30T19:41:32Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#):
>
> I am not complaining about the cop enforcing the laws; not at all. I am complaining about the cop’s behavior in the process of enforcing those laws.
Yes, you poor victim you. A cop giving you something you desperately want, but not in the exact perfect form you want.
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### Author:  [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)
#### Post date: [October 30, 2011, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-know-how-to-feel-about-this-cops-question/601263/51 "2011-10-30T19:47:15Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#):
>
> And trust me, I was as nice as can be.
Ha, that must be the explanation then for the cop’s “hostility”.
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### Author:  [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)
#### Post date: [October 30, 2011, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-know-how-to-feel-about-this-cops-question/601263/52 "2011-10-30T19:47:49Z")
> [@Candyman74](#):
>
> Newsflash! Jamie McGarry interacted with society and concluded it was victimising him!
>
> Ambivalid, man, some people are just trying to get on with their lives and do their jobs. They can’t all spend 20 hours a day studying and memorising your rule book on how one must interact with you.
>
> We all deal with rude or annoying people every day. We just deal with it.
Victimized?! Huh? _My_ rule book? This isn’t about me, it’s about decency and invasion of privacy. And by posting about my experiences with “rude and/or annoying people”, this somehow signifies that I’m _not dealing_ with it? Shit man, I thought that was what this message board was (in part) all about.
And this experience wasn’t a huge deal to me. It didn’t “enrage” me or ruin my day. It was just something that left me pondering afterwards and I didn’t like it. I was nice and friendly to the cop, and I even thanked him for taking the time to enforce the handicap spot laws. However, he did not need to, and should not have, asked me how I was disabled.
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### Author:  [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)
#### Post date: [October 30, 2011, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-know-how-to-feel-about-this-cops-question/601263/53 "2011-10-30T19:49:07Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#):
>
> However, he did not need to, and should not have, asked me how I was disabled.
What if he was just curious?
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### Author:  [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)
#### Post date: [October 30, 2011, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-know-how-to-feel-about-this-cops-question/601263/54 "2011-10-30T20:00:30Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#):
>
> However, he did not need to, and should not have, asked me how I was disabled.
Why? Is it a secret?
I mean, you tell us about it constantly. It doesn’t _seem_ be very secret. Or is it only secret to cops?
Perhaps you should publish a list.
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### Author:  [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)
#### Post date: [October 30, 2011, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-know-how-to-feel-about-this-cops-question/601263/55 "2011-10-30T20:07:13Z")
> [@treis](#):
>
> Yes, you poor victim you. A cop giving you something you desperately want, but not in the exact perfect form you want.
Well, when that form in which the cop is delivering the enforcement of the law is _wrong_, then I feel I have legitimate grounds to call it out.
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### Author:  [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)
#### Post date: [October 30, 2011, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-know-how-to-feel-about-this-cops-question/601263/56 "2011-10-30T20:08:16Z")
> [@Candyman74](#):
>
> Why? Is it a secret?
>
> I mean, you tell us about it constantly. It doesn’t _seem_ be very secret. Or is it only secret to cops?
>
> Perhaps you should publish a list.
Give me a break. :rolleyes:
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### Author:  [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)
#### Post date: [October 30, 2011, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-know-how-to-feel-about-this-cops-question/601263/57 "2011-10-30T20:09:32Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#):
>
> What if he was just curious?
Well then I’ll give him my phone number and he can call me when he’s off duty and we can chat.
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### Author:  [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)
#### Post date: [October 30, 2011, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-know-how-to-feel-about-this-cops-question/601263/58 "2011-10-30T20:10:27Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#):
>
> Give me a break. :rolleyes:
Sure, when you give the entire world a break. The whole planet isn’t conspiring to piss you off.
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### Author:  [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)
#### Post date: [October 30, 2011, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-know-how-to-feel-about-this-cops-question/601263/59 "2011-10-30T20:13:36Z")
> [@Capitaine\_Zombie](#):
>
> Ha, that must be the explanation then for the cop’s “hostility”.
Nowhere but _here_ and no one but _you_ has used the word “hostile” or “hostility” in any way to describe anything about the cop’s behavior. Inserting your own characterizations to fit your pre-fixed notions of the poster. Nice. :rolleyes:
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### Author:  [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)
#### Post date: [October 30, 2011, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-know-how-to-feel-about-this-cops-question/601263/60 "2011-10-30T20:20:53Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#):
>
> Well, when that form in which the cop is delivering the enforcement of the law is _wrong_, then I feel I have legitimate grounds to call it out.
Is it wrong? Do you have a cite? I think before you keep going off on this you need to find some sort of protocol or department policy the precludes them from asking you about this. I think you’re annoyed with the question, but I’m willing to bet the officer didn’t actually do anything wrong and, as I said above, you could have refused to answer.
Is there any law or policy that states that an officer can’t ask someone about their medical condition or are you just assuming it? I agree that the placard and ID should be enough, but that’s not what I’m after. You said in the quote above that the officer was ‘wrong’ and you have ‘legitimate grounds to call it out’ so I’m asking you what grounds you would cite when you call him out?
If you were to file a complaint against the department, what rule/law/policy would you cite?
I’m not trying to accuse you or pick a fight, but sometimes I think you accuse other people of wrong doing when they are actually well within their rights.
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