Public transportation in Madison, Wisconsin:
"[Larry] Wilks and three other unidentified subjects began to verbally attack the 45-year-old bus driver," said police spokesman Howard Payne. "He said 'You can't tell me what to do, and you better drive this bus.'"...
Wilks told police that he "didn't have to do anything" and allegedly got into a fight with the officer before being put into handcuffs, under arrest.
Others at the scene, apparently angered over the arrest, encircled the officer and Wilks, prompting the officer to call for backup.
"After the scene was calmed, Wilks stated he was not afraid to go to jail, and that proved to be directly in line with the officer's decision," Payne said.
IN THE COMMENTS: Sofa King said:
See, this is why I drive a car.
Oh, but what if we invested a billion dollars and got some wonderfully sleek and spiffy light rail trains? Surely, the Wilks ilk would pull up their pants.
Posts
68 comments:
MadisonMan, I'm surprised at you.
(Well, disappointed, anyway. But not really very surprised.)
I make it a point to laugh at guys who walk around with the pants trailing on the ground and their boxers (or worse) showing. I admit I'm too much of a coward to laugh when or where they are likely to see or hear me, but I do get a kick out of it. Fashion victims, indeed!
Does Madison have indecent exposure statutes? Was the man's dress in violation of them? The bus driver sounds like a good guy, pushing back against an uncivilized (if not illegal) fashion 'statement'.
"Having said that, brothers should pull up their pants. You are walking by your mother, your grandmother, your underwear is showing. What's wrong with that? Come on. There are some issues that we face, that you don't have to pass a law, but that doesn't mean folks can't have some sense and some respect for other people and, you know, some people might not want to see your underwear -- I'm one of them."
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/11/obama-to-mtv-br.html
Pants on the Ground - Neil Young.
"The 20-year-old Madison man was tentatively charged with disorderly conduct..."
That's "man", not man.
See, this is why I drive a car.
Leaving aside the issue of indecent exposure and how ridiculous low-ride pants look... how is it even comfortable to walk around like that? Doesn't it constrain leg movement?
Match this with the cop in Seattle trying to arrest a girl, and you start to see the full bitter fruit of constantly being told by the likes of Reverend Sharpton that you are a victim and "the man" is always out to get you.
Am I advocating passively going along with anything the police tell you to do? Certainly not.
But I am advocating some modicum of respect for authority and their role in our society.
And it is a bad idea to try to physically stop a cop in the discharge of his or her duty.
low enough to allow his underwear and buttocks to be seen by others on the bus, including several elderly passengers, Madison police said.
Think of the elderly.
"Perhaps the officer should have shot him in the buttocks." ~ Forest Gump.
All the bus drivers need to carry pepper spray.
Is there anything more hilarious and off-putting than self-righteous indignation on the part of a twenty-year-old?
(The 12:36 comment made me laugh)
Surely, the Wilks ilk would pull up their pants.
No, they'd most likely be the cretins pissing in the sleek & spiffy trains late at night.
You looking like a fool with your pants on the ground.
I almost told a 10 year old (white) boy to pull up his pants on the airplane last week. I didn't because you could look at his parents and see that they would have been outraged.
Sigh. The boy was trying to help his grandmother on the plane, which means his heart was good despite his up-bringing.
More scouts, less TV.
-XC
Speaking of pants on the ground, has Brett Favre said if he's coming back yet?
Speaking of pants on the ground, how's Tiger doing at the US Open today?
Doesn't it constrain leg movement?
One would think. The good part is that this problem should sort itself out in a generation as long as there are fires and drivers who can't stop in time for pedestrians.
Speaking of pants on the ground, has Brett Favre said if he's coming back yet?
That's traditionally been a Training Camp announcement. Fashionably Late as they say!
Speaking of pants on the ground...I bet you democrats miss your boy Bill Clinton right about now.
Think of the lip biting he could do in the Gulf.
Brett Favre needs to pull his pants up all the way to his neck. Then tighten the belt. Tighter, tighter, tighter.
"I make it a point to laugh at guys who walk around with the pants trailing on the ground and their boxers (or worse) showing. I admit I'm too much of a coward to laugh when or where they are likely to see or hear me, ..."
I was with a friend many years ago at Summer Fest. He had one of those Polaroid instant cameras. We were eating at a table, and the next table over was someone sitting with his back to us, pants low and crack showing. My firend took a picture, walked over to the table and presented him with the picture. It had the desired effect (the guy pulled his pants up).
My middle schooled aged son has been trying to pull that pants down stuff lately.
Dad, mom and sis gang up on him and tell him we don't need to see it.
Surely, the Wilks ilk would pull up their pants.
I doubt it - your only hope would be that fares would be so high that only yippies would ride it.
And don't call me Shirley.
Something else that we can blame on the Lefties.
Trooper York said...
Speaking of pants on the ground...I bet you democrats miss your boy Bill Clinton right about now.
Think of the lip biting he could do in the Gulf.
And he'd be pulling the same shakedown and blame game.
Deviancy defined down...down....down.
My nephew was of the generation that wore those long basketball shorts all the time. Whenever we went anywhere, he'd ask me to hold his keys, wallet, etc. Those damn pants he wore have no pockets.
He just graduated college Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude and he and I now joke about the dumb shorts he and his generation wore.
Wow! Samba! Put some pants on why don't ya!
how is it even comfortable to walk around like that? Doesn't it constrain leg movement?
My favorite is the sagging pants, no belt look that actually requires the wearer to hold the pants up at all times. So, constrains leg movement and the use of one hand. Genius.
I was in high school when that look first started coming into style (sheesh, shouldn't it have gone the way of "the Rachael" haircut and scrunchies by now?), and I recall a girlfriend stating under her breath that it makes the wearer look like he's "carrying around a shitload." Still true today.
Wow, there is clearly a generation gap here. I'm 24, so I've grown up with sagging pants. It's not my fashion preference, but it's not something I notice about people. Had I been on the bus I probably would have been oblivious, and then probably a bit sad that such innocuous fashion was causing such a disturbance. I'm more disturbed by women's thongs/asses hanging out of their pants than men's boxers. However, if his "buttocks" were showing (as the story says) that's a bit of a different issue. But I'm not sure I can imagine how they would be...are there some sort of new bandless boxers I'm unaware of that fall off of ones ass?
Speaking of pants on the ground....the BBC contacted us to see if we wanted to be on "The Naked Office"in the new american version of the show. In it they put all the people in your company through "team building excercises" to build trust and confidence until finally....you can go to work naked. With your pants really on the floor.
I don't think America is ready to see Trooper Yorks braciole on national TV.
Race was not identified in the article, but I wonder who else instantly thought:
1. Black guy.
2. Angry, belligerant, black guy who typically verbally abuses, threatens, even attacks when challenged on something they know their own momma wouldn't put up with.
3. Crowd of angry, belligerant blacks who automatically go tribal and side with the skin over the facts.
Anyone else have the same mental images?
And is that racist that those images pop up near automatically?
And is that racist that those images pop up near automatically?
Probably. I didn't think that because I don't think "black people" when I think of Madison.
I did think liberal though. People ride busses in Madison because they're convinced they're superior modes of transportaion.
@Cedarford
The meaning of the word "racism" has been stretched and extended to the point where it is almost meaningless.
"Racism" should mean something like the Merriam-WEbster definiton: "a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race."
If someone assumes these kids were black, it is based on their everyday experience of this kind of dress and behavior (including the behavior of the crowd that gathered).
This is really just a normal cogniive process--we generalize based on our experiences. It is not racism. It is more likely good judgement.
Anyone else have the same mental images?
Not really -- although, much like El Pollo Real that has more to do with my mental image of Madison as full of Aryans than anything else.
I thought of self importand hipster dofus assholes who like to pretend they are black by adopting hip hop trends when they about as cool as Pat Boone singing James Brown.
But then I think everybody in a college town deserves a good smack so don't mind me.
Yea nothing says hipster like riding a city bus.
LLR said: "I recall a girlfriend stating under her breath that it makes the wearer look like he's "carrying around a shitload."
Makes me think the wearer looks like a fucking idiot, but I can go with this too.
Like you, I didn't get this style when it came out in my high school days, and I still don't get it. So it's not a generational thing because I remember young people laughing at these dumbasses then too.
The look apparently derives from prison outfits which are generally not the right size, and you are not permitted to wear a belt.
So, it looks like the look has landed this fellow in the right place. Now he can look like that all day.
"garage mahal said...
Yea nothing says hipster like riding a city bus."
Dude it's Wisconsin. Just wearing shoes just got hip.
"The look apparently derives from prison outfits which are generally not the right size, and you are not permitted to wear a belt."
Yikes, I thought the look was stupid on it's own merits, but the thought that it's meant to emulate criminals raises the stupidity to a whole 'nother level.
So the bus driver felt he had a need to involve the police, and then the policeman who came had a need to involve more police.
I'd call this a public safety issue instead of a clash of cultural norms.
"garage mahal said...
Yea nothing says hipster like riding a city bus."
You know garage on second thought you have a point.
I never they had buses in Wisconsin. I would have thought stagecoach you know what I mean.
Dude it's Wisconsin. Just wearing shoes just got hip.
Winning Football World Championships has always been hip though. At least more than any other teams.
I know man I love ancient history.
You know those Greek dudes used to win the Olympics every day.
It is part of the prison culture. according to someone I know who works in the prison syste. Pants worn low by inmates are a sign of availability.
C'mon people, I suspect (and know in some cases) that some of you dressed pretty stupidly at that age. Your elders thought you looked like idiots and now you know they were right, so respect dee athoratay of the youth on youth fashion. It will always be them who decides what's stupid until they learn better. When they do eventually learn, they will know that both of you dressed like idiots when young.
Similar derision was aimed at the flappers, but where would we be today without them? Victorian ladies were often beautifully dressed, but I'm glad I never had to deal with those obstacles to intimacy after last call.
"Pants worn low by inmates are a sign of availability."
The prison connection is that you can't wear a belt in the big house, so that's how you look and the street punks want to emulate the criminal. Parents should be proud.
I know man I love ancient history.
Rich, unmatched, and unparalleled history :)
Forgive me, but I have to disagree about the ill fitting pants in the slammer to some degree. I see plenty of inmate workers with pants that fit very well. I believe wearing their slacks below the buttocks is not merely because they aren't allowed to wear a belt.
The other thing abot these kids wearing their pants so low is they have to clutch them at the crotch to keep them from falling off, which just makes it more disgusting.
"garage mahal said...
I know man I love ancient history.
Rich, unmatched, and unparalleled history"
I know. You have to cherish every victory over the Pottstown Firebirds. Well done.
One of my life's dreams is to see an individual dressed in baggy pants try to run, only to trip and fall directly on his face. Preferably onto some asphalt. I will laugh until I get a hernia.
Sadly, I am still waiting.
WV: welly - as in "welly, welly, welly - how are those baggy pants working out for you now?"
I know. You have to cherish every victory over the Pottstown Firebirds. Well done.
4 against the New York Football Giants ;-)
We got to get you to Lambeau sometime Trooper.
Hey we were drunk at the time.
Plus you only started to win when you stole Lombardi. He was supposed to be the Giants coach but then there was that unfortunate incident with that truck driver in the restroom on the New Jersey Turnpike in the rest stop that now bears his name.
Sagging pants is one thing, but crack is whack.
Around here, the brothers are wearing giant white Tee shirts that reach to mid-thigh, also prison garb. At least it hides the boxers.
I don't think it is nice when commenters complain about other peoples crack.
Can't we all just get along?
...after taking a crap in the corner, Wilks would maybe pull up his pants.
"Oh, but what if we invested a billion dollars and got some wonderfully sleek and spiffy light rail trains?"
Don't get me started on that boondoggle.
Yikes, I thought the look was stupid on it's own merits, but the thought that it's meant to emulate criminals raises the stupidity to a whole 'nother level.
Not just criminals, but unsuccessful criminals.
- Lyssa
Trooper York said...
Hey we were drunk at the time.
We were too. If you were to believe Max McGee, Jim Taylor, Fuzzy Thurston, etc etc etc. And I do.
Madison should eliminate the buses, no one uses them.
Unlike on the Coasts where public transit is fab and you can see many hot guys.
Not only a silly style, but not functional for the criminally inclined. I have seen several "pants on the ground " types try to outrun the police on "Cops" only to have their pants fall below their knees. They then hit the ground like a roped calf.
It is like that shuffle so many of the black kids do. when I was in the Army it was called the stockade shuffle because that was how you walked when you had leg irons on. Then it became a way of walking by the gang kids. Still stupid looking.
1) Clearly, the public school self esteem programs have succeeded!
2) You can tell this is Madison and not Minneapolis because the driver is still alive.
"hit the ground like a roped calf"
-- Delightful!
-- Maybe they're unconscoiusly trying to help the police identify and arrest them.
Prisoners of fashion!
If you watch episodes of "Cops", you will routinely see black perps running fast,and then being tripped up by their low-riding , 5 sizes too big, pants. It is pretty funny to see.
The fact that wearing your pants like you're someones bitch in prison became a fashion statement...
Back during one of the snows in winter saw two guys whose car had died pushing it out of the road; one had his pants hanging and was pushing with one hand and holding them up with the other. Apparently didn't occur to dumbass to pull them up at least long enough to move the car.
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