Cops Mace Couple For Answering Phone In Theater
from the over-reaction? dept
Just last month we had a story about all that mobile phone induced anger, and it should be noted that police are not immune to such things. The Associated Press is reporting that a woman who answered a phone call from her mother during the opening credits of a movie was confronted by an off-duty cop who pulled her and her boyfriend out into the lobby and maced them, followed up with a charge of disorderly conduct. The police claim the story happened a bit differently, so choose who you want to believe. Either way, it’s yet another story of mobile phone induced anger getting a bit out of hand.
Comments on “Cops Mace Couple For Answering Phone In Theater”
selfishness
IF you accept the Police report, confirmed by one witness and contested by others related to the “victims,” the real problem here is selfishness.
The same problem that makes selfish drivers run down pedestrians in crosswalks after the lights change. The same problem that makes people forget they are not alone in this world, and that the people around them matter, too. Even if their version is correct, they were still disrupting a theatre full of other people because they insisted on talking on the phone.
IF the Police version of the story is correct, I’d say they were treated fairly. I’d like to be able to mace people for using phones in theatres, or, for that matter, running down people in crosswalks…
Re: selfishness
Pretty funny stuff, you gotta wonder what goes through people minds when they are on cell phones in a movie theater.
No Subject Given
I was reading the details and while one COULD doubt the official police report, reading more about the ones who got maced, those paragons of civic virtues, I’m inclined to believe it was a case of uneducated, rude, obnoxious people being jerks, then getting riled up because someone DARED do something about it.
We have become so brainwashed by the media into believe that WE are entitled beyond all others that we have become a nation of narcisistic, materialistic, boorish *ssh*les who border on believe that rules only exist for OTHER people, and when someone intrudes on this belief, we get our back up and scream foul. It ain’t cool.
You use the cellphone DURING a movie, cause a commotion and get upset because you aren’t allowed to intrude on others? I figure a good macing’s overdue. However, according to the report (and other witnesses beyond the macees friends) the guy got upset and swung at the police officer (and indeed has a history of violence) and in my book, the guy’s lucky he didn’t get shot.
correction
The couple were sprayed with pepper spray, not mace. Pepper spray burns your eyes and sinuses but mace will nearly incapacitate you. It’s the difference between being stung by a bee and being gut-shot with a .44 magnum.
As to the justification for the spraying, I’ve seen too damn many inconsiderate a**holes do the exact same thing at the movies and what someone may think is an “important” call probably isn’t unless it involves death or near-death on someone’s part. She should have gotten up as soon as her cell phone started ringing and headed for the lobby out of consideration for the rest of the audience, but consideration for others is one thing that isn’t taught in this country anymore.
Re: No Subject Given
Recently I went to see “Spiderman 2” with some friends. The movie had already started when some a**hole, sitting behind me, took a call on his cell phone….after having already seen instructions on the movie screen to turn off one’s cell phone before the movie started.
*sigh*
Re: Re: No Subject Given
I was glad the tw@t & her idiot boyfriend got pepper sprayed.
If I had been the security officer I would have been yelling @ the biotch:
CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW ?
I have to agree with ALL the above posters that I am tired of the selfish rude people whom seem to think because they get a call the whole world must stop and wait for them.
Re: correction
Obvious to me that you have never tasted pepper spray (properly OC spray, oleoresin capsicum (sp?) actually). Its no bee sting. Both OC and mace will make you miserable, just with different reactions. OC is also less likely to cause sideeffects.
I am a cop. I carry OC on my belt. Just putting my hand on the OC holster causes hard core gangbangers to straighten up and pay attention. Its the punk wannabees who haven’t eaten fire before who keep on screwing with me until they get a facefull. They almost never make the same mistake again.
Re: Re: correction
I’ve been maced, pepper sprayed, and tear gassed as part of military and law enforcement training. Tased too. I never saw anybody go into convulsions or stop breathing from being pepper sprayed. Can’t say the same for the other three. Never assume anything is obvious. The correction is valid however, as the police report states that they were sprayed with pepper spray and not mace.