If I get accused of a major crime, just because some wannabe do-gooder falls for the fear-mongering hype over a rare occurrence (especially when the circumstances are only tenuously similar), you bet your sweet bippy that I’m going to take offense.
If somebody accused you of being a pedophile, simply and solely because you appeared to be taking pictures of young children, would you just shrug, and say, “Oh well, I might as well get accustomed to it”?
(And yes, such things have happened.)
I mean, all you seem to be doing is describing human nature. I’m human too, and of course my own gut reaction to being wrongly accused of something would be the same indignation you describe.
But that’s why I’m asking the question. If it’s beneficial for society to be more vigilant - “if you see something, say something” applied to human trafficking - then doesn’t that need to go hand in hand with us controlling that natural indignation and recognizing that the vigilant person “asking the question” has no way of knowing who we are, and that no substantial harm has been done to us once the situation has been clarified?
Huh, when my husband and son traveled together, people thought they were a gay couple, but they didn’t say they got a prostitution vibe.
“If you see something say something” has value provided the see-er applies some good logic, knowledge, and judgement to the “something”.
Man and woman 20 years apart in age dining together is not “something”. It’s nothing. The tag line is not “See anything random say something.”
Same woman giving off fearful subdued body language, speaking only in murmurs to waitstaff or not at all, and the man with her is actively pushing the observers away conversationally but in a threatening manner? And follows her to the women’s restroom and stands nearby outside while she’s inside? Now you’ve got a “something”.
If the bomb squad was called for every object on every sidewalk and in very gutter in NYC how many calls per day is that? 10,000? 50,000? How many bombs exploded in NYC in the last day, week, month, or year? Zero have gone off but I don’t know how many have been planted then dealt with by EOD. Not many though.
If the see-er is not informed or diligent enough to know the real danger signs we’ll get what we had for a while after 9/11. Every Middle Eastern looking man was “something”. Hint. All but 20 of the middle Eastern looking men in the USA were nothing even on 9/11 itself.
I am female … so a 60 year old guy travelling with a 19 year old female, do the erroneous math =)
That reminds me of I story I think I heard on This American Life years ago. A black man is out with his white stepson when the police stop them, because they think there’s something “off” about a black man with a white child. They separate the child from his stepfather and ask him if he’s ok, and the child had a little outburst (I’m paraphrasing from memory here) along the lines of “Man, why are the police always stopping us and giving us a hard time every time my stepdad and I go out?!”
Some years back I dropped my daughter off to visit a friend (parking in the area being nonexistent). Shortly after I picked her up I was pulled over by a policeman, who came up to her side and shone his flashlight on her, then waved me on without a word. When we got home I called the dispatcher, who told me he logged it as a prostitute check.
She thought it was a lot funnier than I did.
Margaritaville in The Flats is the most basic bar/restaurant on the strip. Old people and families go there*. It’s probably the most brightly lit bar too. It would be the worst place to take your hostage.
I could see dudes hanging out there trying to Do Some Justice, looking out for Bad Guys preying on women. They were thinking “The Flats is a place in Downtown Cleveland. Let us White Knight there!” and the least offensive place to park their steeds was Magaritaville. The music was probably not as “urban” or as loud.
On one hand I like the idea of people looking out for other people, especially young women and men who might appear to be vulnerable. But to do this at a brightly lit popular family bar is just laughable.
Sorry you had to experience this. Hope the rest of your time up north was enjoyable!
*I hope I don’t offend you by saying you went to a basic bar to eat. The Flats is now a beautiful and lively place compared to what it used to be, and has great people watching. Margaritaville is a great place to take your dad to show off the area.
I’ve never been to Cleveland, but it doesn’t strike me as a human trafficking hub.
It does strike me as the sort of place where nothing happens but is full of middle American idiots who live in constant fear of everything they see on the news.
@OP : now that you’ve been accused incorrectly is the time you want to make your move, should you be so inclined. Just saying.
Yep. Establish the alibi then pounce. The guys who do that backwards are the guys frog-marching on the news.
I can’t remember sorry, is your daughter bi-racial? If so, I wonder if that played any part.
My 5 year old daughter is a different race than me and if she has a meltdown and needs to be restrained (gently) in the supermarket, things can get awkward with regard to onlookers stopping to make sure I’m not a predator.
(I am a predator … of cookies)
Moderating:
Let’s not have a lot of jokes about human trafficking, please. Like rape jokes, they make the forum a more difficult place for some posters.
Thanks
Didn’t something similar to this happen a few months ago to that camper life/camper van couple?
Cops interviewed both of them separately, and she said she was OK. I think maybe she started the altercation.
Did not end well for her.
I saw this article and thought of this thread: