Is It Rubber-Necking If There Are No Cars Involved?
Today I was in the Financial District and walked through the Embarcadero Center. I was going past the ice skating rink when I heard shouting. I barely registered two boys about fifty feet away who seemed to be play-fighting, complete with shouting. Kept walking. Heard them screaming. And then ...
There was a different kind of scream. The kind that alerts you it's not just fun and games. That everyone isn't going to walk away smiling. The kind that makes you look. So I looked. And saw four police officers surrounding the boys, pulling them apart.
I don't know if one or either of those boys were being arrested, but if they were, one of them was definitely doing what would be considered resisting arrest. Which must have been why it took three grown men to wrestle what looked to me like a 12 year old boy to his stomach with his hands behind his back.
Which was why there was only one officer available to get the other boy, who must have thought his frenemy had the right idea, since he struggled, and kept wrestling away, almost to the point of twisting out of his own sweatshirt. Almost to the point of kicking the police officer.
Eventually the first boy had handcuffs on him, and one of the three officers turned to help with the second boy. This was when I noticed a woman standing very close by. At first I thought she must be the mother of one of the boys, or maybe they were brothers, and both belonged to her. It would have explained why her body language told me she was arguing with the officers.
Then I saw her hands - she was sticking a camera as close to the second boy as possible, and one of the police officers was holding his hand out, trying to block her camera's view. At this point I stopped watching and walked away.
I was once on a stretcher being loaded into an ambulance. Well more than once, but the point is a lot of people were watching, and I could feel their eyes, and feel the questions they had. I never want to be one of those people. Those boys were obviously having a hard time. With life, with each other, with the law. Whatever the reason. Whether or not they're shitty kids who deserve it. Regardless, they didn't need an audience.
After looking around online I can't find any news articles about what was going on with those boys. But it's been on my mind all day. Were they arrested? Were they just cuffed to get their attention? I know that area, and police aren't usually nearby. Were they called in because the boys were fighting? Did the woman think the police were being rougher than necessary? Is that why she was taking pictures? What did she plan to do with those pictures?
I think those boys must not be very well-behaved, to be honest. Good kids are shocked into submission when police tell them to do things. Good kids are intimidated by authority. Those two boys fought being cuffed. I wonder.
There was a different kind of scream. The kind that alerts you it's not just fun and games. That everyone isn't going to walk away smiling. The kind that makes you look. So I looked. And saw four police officers surrounding the boys, pulling them apart.
I don't know if one or either of those boys were being arrested, but if they were, one of them was definitely doing what would be considered resisting arrest. Which must have been why it took three grown men to wrestle what looked to me like a 12 year old boy to his stomach with his hands behind his back.
Which was why there was only one officer available to get the other boy, who must have thought his frenemy had the right idea, since he struggled, and kept wrestling away, almost to the point of twisting out of his own sweatshirt. Almost to the point of kicking the police officer.
Eventually the first boy had handcuffs on him, and one of the three officers turned to help with the second boy. This was when I noticed a woman standing very close by. At first I thought she must be the mother of one of the boys, or maybe they were brothers, and both belonged to her. It would have explained why her body language told me she was arguing with the officers.
Then I saw her hands - she was sticking a camera as close to the second boy as possible, and one of the police officers was holding his hand out, trying to block her camera's view. At this point I stopped watching and walked away.
I was once on a stretcher being loaded into an ambulance. Well more than once, but the point is a lot of people were watching, and I could feel their eyes, and feel the questions they had. I never want to be one of those people. Those boys were obviously having a hard time. With life, with each other, with the law. Whatever the reason. Whether or not they're shitty kids who deserve it. Regardless, they didn't need an audience.
After looking around online I can't find any news articles about what was going on with those boys. But it's been on my mind all day. Were they arrested? Were they just cuffed to get their attention? I know that area, and police aren't usually nearby. Were they called in because the boys were fighting? Did the woman think the police were being rougher than necessary? Is that why she was taking pictures? What did she plan to do with those pictures?
I think those boys must not be very well-behaved, to be honest. Good kids are shocked into submission when police tell them to do things. Good kids are intimidated by authority. Those two boys fought being cuffed. I wonder.
Labels: City Livin, People watching, Playing in SF, Potential Depth, Pounding the pavement, Shock and Awe
posted by Green at 12/18/2008 11:03:00 PM
2 Comments:
This is a great post.
I wonder what really happened. Let us know if you find out!
I don't know if it is "good" kids who are shocked into submission. Maybe kids who aren't regularly hassled by the police are shocked, but here the police like to heckle teenagers, with especial focus on the black and Latino males.
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