Some people, for some reason, consider their day wasted if they don't make at least one person they perceive as lower on the totem pole than them suffer. And they consider themselves good guys, helpful guys and pillars of their communities. Which is too fucking sad and infuriating to put into words..
I am a doorman for a highrise full of wealthy people. Pretty regularly someone reports a "suspicious" person near the bus stop. Every single time it is just a black person waiting for a bus. No matter how polite and proper they may seem, the wealthy are all scum.
I watched a documentation about police (EU) some months ago. They were called because supposedly there were "foreigners" causing trouble. They arrived and tried to figure out what the deal was but they were very confused. So the "troublemakers" were friendly and cooperative and the old man who called the police wanted the others gone. Police quickly realized who the actual problem was but the guy was having none of it. He even escalated and was even taken into custody if I recall correctly.
Not sure where the hell I was going with this story but your story reminded me of it. Something about suspicion I guess?
Well see here's the kicker. There are words you can find to put into that situation. They don't have to be good words, complicated, or even particularly useful. The most important thing is to speak out. We tend to be too tolerant and unwilling to place ourselves in the center of attention. Saw it during Covid, see it in most situations. We turn our heads and avert our eyes, subverting the expectation that good people should stand for good reasons.
I'll say it plainly: Most of us mean well and speak well. We do nothing though.
"Karen" was a nice one to at least get some of these assholes to understand.
But yeah, words are strong. Oppressive regimes actually try and avoid or even remove certain words because it allows the people to easily explain something that could hurt the regime.
I am not a native English and I remember having a really hard time understanding what "loitering" actually means. I thought "it cannot mean just standing around. it is a crime after all. how can 'just to exist' be crime?"
Now that I am older I see that it is just an excuse to discriminate.
20ish years ago I got roused and told to move along by a cop for sleeping on a bench at a rest area off I95 in the middle of the day. I'd been up all night and stopped because I didn't feel safe driving anymore. That didn't matter to him/the law so I got back on the road.
I had something similar happen in Louisville. I pulled off the road because I was legitimately dangerous to myself and others. Cop told me I had to move on
I was waiting for a bus and was practicing juggling to pass the time. I was told I couldn't do that by a security guard who thought I was busking. So I put up a sign that said "I'm not busking" and he was quite huffy and stood around giving me stink eye.
And you know what's the safest thing to do in that situation? A small dose of meth as it'll keep you awake and focused on the road. (Coffee doesn't really work because it has a very big comedown that builds up very fast)
Not necessarily, but thanks to SCOTUS, cities can make it illegal all they want now.
But also, there’s this:
§ 559.45 Behavior in Parks
Sleeping or protracted lounging on the seats or benches, or loud, boisterous, threatening or abusive, insulting or indecent language, or disorderly conduct or behavior, or any act tending to a breach of the public peace is strictly prohibited. Source
That's when you call constantly for that law being broken. Report literally every instance. At some point, the law will be removed because it's a surd.
Here's what to do if you see someone sleeping on a bench or in a park: mind your fucken business, unless some is dying or being actively hurt mind your fucken business
I've always applied the "should I be allowed to do it?" Reasoning to these circumstances. And yeah, I should be allowed to nap in the park on a nice day if I want.
Should I bring 6 shopping carts of stuff and block access to public benches for days/weeks at a time? No. But anyone just napping in the park is using the space as intended.
Considering this is a statue, it's not impossible for someone to see someone completely still on a bench and think, "Jeez, I think someone went to sleep on that bench and died. I should call someone..."