I appreciate the humbleness of your comments but I disagree.Originally Posted by brownie0486
I have just a job, treat it with respect and professionalism but I have never had to take the human toll that LEO's see with me.
It's not just a job in my point of view, it's a calling and requires a level of dedication to human decency.
1997 R1100RT, 1981 KZ 440 LTD, R80RT, R90/6 sidecar, K1100RS,1983 K100RS (Cafe now)
“The major civilizing force in the world is not religion, it is sex.”
It's just a job, a professional job. Not all leo's have a professional demeanor, take the job far too seriously in the first 5-10 years on getting appointed, and either quit or get burned out from all the stressors they've allowed to bother them [ anger, frustration with admin/public/court systems etc ].
When I wasn't working I didn't hang with leo's I worked with at social events like cook outs, weekend parties, etc. I met the people I worked with at work. I had a life outside the job. I had a life outside work before the job, I continued to have a life during those working years and when I retired I had a life outside work.
Far too many leo's don't have the disposition to be in that profession. They are the ones who usually have the issues with stress, self induced due to allowing themselves to be frustrated daily over something that wasn't all that bothersome. Many gain a tude and get jaded by all the bad people they run into/deal with, to the point they shut off their families, friends outside their co-workers. The job becomes their life, instead of maintaining a life they had before they took the job. Those who can't remain objective, allow prejudices [ from work related incidents etc ] to enter their world and spill over to their private lives have the problems. Hence the reason the profession is #3 for suicides out of the top 10 professions.
Those who take the job too seriously are vulnerable. Those who keep it simply a job, don't usually have the same issues those who can keep personal and work separated. Some people just aren't cut out for that profession, thing is, many don't know it's not for them until they're in it for some time.
The lion does not even bother to turn his head when he hears the small dog barking.
https://www.youtube.com/user/azqkr
There are a lot of factors as to how the LEO takes your response of slowing down. I've seen several of them.
I've been riding since 1981. Most of that time on BMWs, always had a wind shield on my ride. I am a petite female. Used to have long blonde hair. In MA, where I resided, traffic violations were expensive; you pay for them for seven (7) years. Adds up. In the situation the OP describes, I slow down. Because my heart is in my throat and I don't really want to have a conversation with law enforcement that day (or any day when operating a motorized vehicle). This is because as a young person I had enough conversations with law enforcement to last me a lifetime. These days, in small towns where the posted speed is 25 or 30 mph, that's what I'm doing - car or bike.
If I'm pulled over I do my utmost to be polite. I am hard of hearing, wear ear plugs (to preserve what hearing I have!), and wear a modular helmet. So, my first interaction if I'm on the bike is asking to take off my helmet explaining that I wear earplugs for hearing protection and because I am quite hard of hearing. Not always the best introduction and not always a happy LEO when I say this. Two strikes against me before anything else occurs. I still make every effort to be polite and not come across as a ditzy blonde. Most of my riding experiences have been in MA and NH. Now I'm in CO as of July 2020.
There have been two occasions over the years when a LEO got me pretty ticked off. The first time was coming thru Jaffrey, NH, late afternoon after a wonderful day riding (350 +/- miles). Traffic light at the intersection was red and I pulled up behind a police car. The sun was behind me. Light turns green. Just after the intersection where we were stopped there is a jug-handle right turn which the LEO took. He turned right at the end of the jug-handle to approach the same intersection perpendicular to my direction of travel. He turns right at the light to come up behind me and pulls me over. When he turned at the jug-handle I was pretty sure what his intent was and I was right. The LEO was a young man - I was old enough to be his mother! I had rimless eye glasses at that time in my life. I also have a wind shield on my bike. At the stoplight I opened the face shield of my helmet because it was hot and sticky. When the light turned green I closed the face shield. I shut off my bike upon stopping for the pull over. I also opened the chin bar on my helmet (hot and sticky w/ATGATT). When the LEO came up to me and looked at me the look of surprise was very obvious. Yep, I'm a girl on this bike. It took him a noticeable amount of time to gather his wits and then stammer "I-I, uh, didn't see that you are wearing glasses." What? Really?!?!? You're pulling me over to try to stick me with an eye protection violation when the bike has a windshield and I'm wearing a full face helmet? I was pretty mad but I remained polite. No ticket, we went our separate ways. The monologue inside my helmet for the rest of the ride home, however, was pretty colorful.
The second time was very early in the riding season another year. My bike had been having troubles staying running until the choke had done what it needed when it was cold out. It was quite cold that morning. My ex-partner was riding in back of me on his H-D. We came up a gentle hill to a stop sign. My bike stalled so I checked both directions for oncoming traffic (none) and decided to roll thru the stop so I could try to bump start the bike. I did not see the LEO. We were turning right up a slight incline and doing a very slow right turn while bump starting the bike was, shall we say, interesting? Quite. The bike did start and on we went. I wasn't watching my mirrors all that closely because I had observed that my partner had made the turn also. Sooo....., I had no idea that I had a local LEO behind me with the gumball machine running for more than a couple of miles. Fortunately that morning I stuck to the speed limit. When I finally looked in my left mirror there was the grill of the police car on the back of my bike. I nearly jumped out of my skin. My partner was a good distance behind the police car. I pulled over immediately and shut off the bike. When he walked up to me and saw me he was very startled. I was the classic suburban mom riding a big bore motorcycle and the look on his face was priceless. I was old enough to be his first child's grandmother. He recovered quickly. First thing the LEO asked was "Do you know why I am stopping you?" [I had NOOOO clue.]
"No, sir."
"Well, you sort of wobbled through that stop sign back there. At this time of the year we get a lot of unlicensed riders, mostly young men, some of who have long hair, who think they can ride a motorcycle and sometimes the motorcycle is stolen. I thought you were a young man. My apologies. Can I see your license, please?"
"Of course. [I hand him my license.] Just to let you know, I've been riding since 1981. My bike stalled at the stop sign and I was attempting to bump-start it which is why I wobbled."
"Okay. [Hands my license back.] Nice bike you have there, by the way. You have a great day. It's supposed to be pretty nice. Take care." Very polite guy which made things a lot easier.
What made me mad was his assumption that I was some young man hot rodding on a stolen bike. I didn't stay mad that time though.
I can understand that the type of stop he may have been walking into was possibly a situation where he could have been hurt. But the shock of seeing a female motorcycle operator shouldn't have been happening, even then. Kinda irked me. It is what it is though. My partner just about fell off his bike laughing after the LEO had left. Helped me to laugh too.
Our LEOs have a tough job. I did too - all 43 years worth. Deadlines, all-nighters, 90-hour work weeks. If I lost my cool on the job I had to eat a lot of crow while looking at a client in the eye after having been skinned by my boss. If a LEO loses their cool, makes for negative opinions from others which does not help the conversation. LEO's do have my respect.
Louise
Great post. This forum really needs a like buttom...
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