Dick:

Y'know, when you meet a cop on the road, it is a crapshoot as to whether your day will improve or devolve..... depends on whether he will be a good cop or not:

Ferinstance:

So I leave the homestead the other day to go run errands in the late morning......a wonderful bright, sunny day. Upon my return, I see, about a half mile from my driveway (past my driveway),a box trailer sorta katywampus across the road. Being the nosy person that I am, I drive the car down to see what is going on. I stop behind the trailer and turn on my flashers and get out.

I find a young man, 20something, trying to find a way to get the tongue of the trailer off the ground. Apparently, when he hitched it up, he didn't get the fork of the hitch under the ball, and it bounced off the trailer ball (or he didn't latch it) and was now resting on the ground...(good thing he attached those safety chains!). The problem was that the trailer jack was one of those "swing away" types, and there was no way he could lift the tongue of the trailer up enough to get it to flip down. I tried to help him, but it was too heavy for the two of us to lift.

Being the helpful sort that I am, I told him I'd be right back, and to disconnect the remains of the safety chains and damaged wiring and move his truck forward about 30 feet....and I turned the car around and went back home. Went inside and got the key to the Kubota and fired it up. Put a chain in the bucket and drove to where the trailer was. I did turn on my LED strobe to enhance visibility....

Hooked the chain to the tongue of the trailer, put it on the hook on the bucket and lifted....Not.

I'm not sure if he had the trailer loaded wrong, or if his load had crashed forward, but my tractor wouldn't lift the tongue....2400 lbs is what the tractor will pick up with the bucket, and the trailer wasn't budging.  So I unhooked the chain and turned the tractor around so I could lift using the three-point hitch on the back (4800 lbs capacity). As I was turning the tractor around and backing up, I see a cop car behind the trailer.

Up walks a county cop. He beckons me off the tractor and is yelling at the kid as I get off.  He starts in on youngblood, telling him he is causing a traffic hazard (what, like people haven't been slowing and then going around us?....some even offered to help) and telling him he is gonna get a ticket for blocking the road and when the kid answered him back, he mentioned "disturbing the peace" and something about "Traffic hazard"...

"Hey, brother," I said "if you'll wait about 4 minutes, we can get this thing hooked up and get him off the road, and then you can yell. If you are really worried about safety, why dontya turn on your lights so people will see us sooner? "

He told me his name wasn't "brother" and I could address him as "officer"...and offered to arrest me for "interfering with a police officer" and something else that I don't remember. and a ticket for not having proper safety equipment or something....and demanded my ID. I refused.  Firmly.

I actually smiled. "Sure thing, son...Your game, you call the rules...Except you will address me as "Sir" from this point on....Oh, and another thing...(I kinda got in his personal face space here) "Officer":.... "Supervisor" .... Now.... You call one to this location on your radio, or I do it on my phone. And get out of the way.". I climbed onto the tractor. I was shaking, I was so mad.

He stood there, in my way, talking on the radio.

I resisted the urge to move him with the bucket, and waited.

Sure enough, about 5 minutes later, another county car arrived and pulled up behind everyone and another , somewhat older, cop got out (he, at least, turned on his lights). I got off the tractor, and walked up. Young cop tells his story, young man nods and answers a question, then I stated my piece. I asked where county cops get off being dicks and hindering rather than helping or at least staying out of the way...I pointed out that I would have had the whole thing fixed and off the road if young stupid cop had just gotten out of the way as I suggested and I didn't appreciate being talked to and threatened the way I had been. I said I wanted to make a claim for intimidation and threatening. I pointed out that he had been an ass, and had wasted time, if there really had been a danger to the public he had made it last longer.

Old cop, the supervisor, took a look...then he helped me hook up the chains and directed me in lifting the trailer. He himself put the jack down and unhooked the chains. He directed me backwards to hitch to the trailer.. I suggested to the kid that we pull the trailer to my house and we could straighten the hooks enough that they would be safer. ...and legal. (and pointed (loudly) out that if he wasn't legal the first cop was dick enough and would no doubt LOVE to arrest him or at least give a ticket...)

So the Supervisor asked me if I would let him handle the young asshole cop. I said sure, but this shit has to be dealt with. I didn't appreciate being threatened with arrest for trying to help, and I didn't like his attitude or the fact that he made a simple thing take longer....and he didn't even make the scene safer by turning on his lights.

"Yeah, I can handle him," he said, "or you can make that complaint. But he will like it less if I handle it unofficially....He really is a good officer, he just has bad days sometimes".
I suggested that if he has days like this, over something that is this minor, perhaps he shouldn't be a cop.......Which didn't go over well. But he did promise to counsel the other cop.

So supervisor makes the young cop "escort" me and the kid back to my driveway...for "safety"...on foot! and walk back. In the sun. They stood on the side of the road for about 20 minutes when kid got back to the two cop cars, talking and sometimes waving their arms a bit.

Supervisor shows up at my driveway while I am helping the kid get his chains fixed and the wiring repaired enough to be legal. At my suggestion, the kid opens up the trailer to pull some of the cement bags back from the front. Supervisor and I talk for a few.....I pointed out that isn't normal behavior for a cop, and that young cop has, apparently, authority issues (I did use the phrase "Respec Ma Autoriteh!" which brought a smile,) and maybe anger management issues.

I asked him how someone like that can become a cop? No psychological screening?   And perhaps the kid needed to learn the difference between some gangbanger kid he'd pulled over at 2 AM and someone like me in the middle of the day...older and wiser and not someone who can be can be leaned on or threatened... and suggested that the kid cop either learn how to handle people or someone like me was gonna run his ass over or shoot his ass someday....which also didn't go over well. But the point was made. We shook hands and he left. Kid cop was long gone by then.

I dunno. Haven't seen the kid cop since though.

I still wonder if I should have made a complaint though....or at least a report.