# No Severance pay for Officer Wilson **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 1, 2014, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-severance-pay-for-officer-wilson/706002 "2014-12-01T03:20:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2014, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-severance-pay-for-officer-wilson/706002/41 "2014-12-02T19:30:56Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > Jesus, stop embarrassing yourself with the unceasing stream of ignorance. Look at a map; Ferguson is a suburb of St. Louis; it isn’t anywhere near the Arkansas (literally half the state away) and [the median house price in the St. Louis metropolitan area is $201,888 according to Truila](http://www.trulia.com/real_estate/Saint_Louis-Missouri/market-trends/). > [@](#): > > The average listing price for homes for sale in Ferguson MO was $88,200 for the week ending Nov 19, which represents a decrease of 7.7%, or $7,375, compared to the prior week. [Cite](http://www.trulia.com/real_estate/Ferguson-Missouri/). So I bet he could afford a house in Ferguson proper on $45K per year. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2014, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-severance-pay-for-officer-wilson/706002/42 "2014-12-02T20:01:57Z")
Of course, one of the root issues in the case is the fact that Ferguson is a majority-black community policed by a majority-white force that lives outside of the town itself. Wilson lived in Crestwood, half an hour away from Ferguson. That’s in ZIP code 63126, where the median list price is [$160,223](http://www.trulia.com/real_estate/63126-Saint_Louis/). ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2014, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-severance-pay-for-officer-wilson/706002/43 "2014-12-02T20:16:52Z")
And if the rule is that your house should cost 4X your annual income, that’s pretty close. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Simus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@Don\_Simus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Simus)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2014, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-severance-pay-for-officer-wilson/706002/44 "2014-12-02T21:22:28Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > I think you’re trying to sound “edgy” by implying that Wilson should’ve killed Brown even sooner than he did, but the non-sequitur really isn’t helping you get there. > > Whites are afraid of blacks (Simus, Don._The Big Book of True White Facts_. SDMB: Simus & Shyster, 2014. Thread post.) and this mortal fear makes them reluctant to use guns on them? Here is a quote from a real book, “The Anglo-Saxon” by H. L. Mencken: > [@](#): > > What are the characters that I discern most clearly in the so-called Anglo-Saxon type of man? I may answer at once that two stick out above all others. One is his curious and apparently incurable incompetence—his congenital inability to do any difficult thing easily and well, whether it be isolating a bacillus or writing a sonata. The other is his astounding susceptibility to fears and alarms—in short, his hereditary cowardice… What I was saying is that when a genetic coward encounters a possible danger he loses even that limited reasoning ability which he has in safe situations. And starts shooting. ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2014, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-severance-pay-for-officer-wilson/706002/45 "2014-12-02T21:50:08Z")
> [@Don\_Simus](#): > > It is a well known fact that white Americans are intimidated by blacks. Are afraid of them. This fear causes inadequate use of arms. Is this like when I am confronted by a black man and I try to do one of those complicated, choreographed handshakes, but I become intimidated and end up flailing my arms like a squid on a dock? I hate when that happens. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2014, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-severance-pay-for-officer-wilson/706002/46 "2014-12-02T21:51:07Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > This. Severance pay is when you get laid off, or otherwise asked to leave not-for-cause and they pay you something extra to lessen the blow. > > I’ve been at a dying company where a person with a job offer played “chicken” and didn’t say anything in hopes of being laid off and getting severance, because if she just quit she would only get the stuff described in the op. This has actually happened to me TWICE. In both cases, similar to what you describe, I knew there were layoffs happening. The first time I was told by a high up friend of mine to NOT turn in my notice yet as my department was going to get hit. The next one I was laid off by a company, but within a week or two got hired back on by the same company in a different department. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-severance-pay-for-officer-wilson/706002/47 "2014-12-03T01:43:33Z")
> [@Don\_Simus](#): > > Here is a quote from a real book, “The Anglo-Saxon” by H. L. Mencken: > > What I was saying is that when a genetic coward encounters a possible danger he loses even that limited reasoning ability which he has in safe situations. And starts shooting. Thank you for clarifying, and I apologize for misreading the nature of your bigotry. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Simus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@Don\_Simus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Simus)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-severance-pay-for-officer-wilson/706002/48 "2014-12-03T21:07:53Z")
> [@Death\_of\_Rats](#): > > Is this like when I am confronted by a black man and I try to do one of those complicated, choreographed handshakes, but I become intimidated and end up flailing my arms like a squid on a dock? > > I hate when that happens. And sometimes you feel a warm stream flowing down your leg. And a strong stench of urine hits your nostrils. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-severance-pay-for-officer-wilson/706002/49 "2014-12-03T21:26:18Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Thank you for clarifying, and I apologize for misreading the nature of your bigotry. If you have a problem with a poster take it to the Pit. No warning issued. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-severance-pay-for-officer-wilson/706002/50 "2014-12-03T21:27:42Z")
> [@Don\_Simus](#): > > And sometimes you feel a warm stream flowing down your leg. And a strong stench of urine hits your nostrils. This is an official warning. You are being at best a jerk. Stop it. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-severance-pay-for-officer-wilson/706002/51 "2014-12-03T22:21:15Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > Okay- thanks guys. I just tried to research the average pay of a police officer in Qld after a few years and I think it is about $60K. Hard to tell as they lump all employees in together (including office workers). > > And not a point for discussion but they wouldn’t run the same risk with firearms- although there are sufficient around here (please note I am not making a comment about forearm laws). Forearm laws? “Shirtsleeves will go all the way down to the wrist.” 🙂 It’s worth noting that Australia is, in general, considerably more expensive for many things than the United States. If you’re talking about a relatively inexpensive city like St. Louis, $45,000 would probably take you considerably further than $60,000 would in a large Australian city. I was reading a report recently that compared minimum wages in different countries, and then took cost of living into account in order to work out true income. In nominal terms, Australia was far ahead of the United States in minimum wage (about $15 compared to just over $7 per hour), but once they took cost of living into account, the difference in real terms was more like $9 versus $7. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Simus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@Don\_Simus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Simus)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2014, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-severance-pay-for-officer-wilson/706002/52 "2014-12-04T03:21:17Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Thank you for clarifying, and I apologize for misreading the nature of your bigotry. It is a convenient device to accuse your opponent of bigotry. This way you can simply dismiss his argument without having to debate it. This spares you a painful self-reflection and frees you from analyzing unpleasing aspects of you character. Such as cowardice. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2014, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-severance-pay-for-officer-wilson/706002/53 "2014-12-04T04:57:26Z")
> [@Death\_of\_Rats](#): > > Is this like when I am confronted by a black man and I try to do one of those complicated, choreographed handshakes, but I become intimidated and end up flailing my arms like a squid on a dock? > > I hate when that happens. Well, then you do the only right and proper thing… you shoot him. Duh. ---
**Author:** ![Ken001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/43a26b/32.png) [@Ken001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ken001)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2014, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-severance-pay-for-officer-wilson/706002/54 "2014-12-04T07:42:57Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > There are reports the amount is in excess of one million dollars from supporters. > [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > The guy got over half a million dollars in donations from his admirers last I heard, and no doubt will be offered book deals and the like. He’s not hurting. Is there any truth in this? Its easy to imagine there are a host of pro-police people out there who can’t wait to give away their savings to a figure in the news. But really? Has this actually happened? Wilson appears to be an ordinary man caught in an awful situation. I can imagine he has many sympathizers but actual money? Nope. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2014, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-severance-pay-for-officer-wilson/706002/55 "2014-12-04T16:21:17Z")
> [@Don\_Simus](#): > > It is a convenient device to accuse your opponent of bigotry. This way you can simply dismiss his argument without having to debate it. This spares you a painful self-reflection and frees you from analyzing unpleasing aspects of you character. Such as cowardice. I will give you a slight benefit of a doubt since I specifically only addressed Vinyl Turnip on this particular issue. Although I’m not sure how you can believe the rules don’t apply to you too. Any problem you have with a poster take it to the Pit. If you continue this hijack and behavior you will receive a second warning in this thread. This time for failure to follow moderator instructions and/or trolling. I would strongly suggest you do not rack up two warnings in one short thread. In case it is not clear, the above applies to everyone. This is MPSIMS. The Pit is down the hall to the right. Miller will be happy to see you. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Simus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@Don\_Simus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Simus)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2014, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-severance-pay-for-officer-wilson/706002/56 "2014-12-04T18:36:05Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > This is an official warning. You are being at best a jerk. Stop it. I am not a jerk or something, but a proud Black Supremacist. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2014, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-severance-pay-for-officer-wilson/706002/57 "2014-12-04T20:25:52Z")
> [@Don\_Simus](#): > > I am not a jerk or something, but a proud Black Supremacist. This is not the correct way to respond to a warning from staff. Your posting privileges are under discussion. **twickster** , MPSIMS moderator [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-severance-pay-for-officer-wilson/706002.md?page=2)