Posted by Strangelove on October 22, 2000 at 03:24:31:
In Reply to: Re: strangelove posted by traveler on October 22, 2000 at 00:48:30:
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Gosh... Did I have to read through this? I'd have appreciated if you had provided me a Readers' Digest version. :-) Anyway. Thank you for clearing up airs. True, some of my posts were done as knee-jerk reactions, so it might have came out sounding abrupt. And you can bet I am new to the area and game. One thing I have on my side is enthusiasm, though, and I am racking up the time at the pace of 2-3 times a week, so in a year, I may actually be fluent in Spanish. I can do line-by-line responses to your post, but let me start with this. I never called you, Porker, or whoever opposed mordida "wrong". In fact, we who are willing to pay mordida were under the constant attack by you guys, and were accused of being "wrong". All we said was "don't call us wrong". This is different from calling you guys wrong, because we never told others to follow our rules. We simply wanted to use our own judgement. And I still do. After reading through your current post 5-6 times, I didn't change my opinion on what I did. If I am taken by the police under the same situation that they took me, I would pay a mordida. Let's start with the point (2) of my previous post. "The degree of urgency" I was talking about was strictly on my situation. Several factors were important in my decision making. (1) I don't speak Spanish. Nada. And don't criticize me on that. You must have visited the country where you don't speak their language. English is already my second language. I can't take the third language so easily. (2) I did not deny the charge, when the police first questioned me. I don't remember I confessed the guilt, but by allowing the police to continue the conversation without my denying, I felt I implicitly admitted that I broke the law. (3) I did not want to leave any record, even a warning from the police or judge. (4) I was in between work assignments, and I needed to get out of TJ as shortest time as possible. I was already behind the schedule by just being stopped. So, I had a time constraint in solving the situation. I define *my* redhanded situations as those in which I can not prove my innocense 100%. In those situations, I wouldn't take a chance. This is simply a question of the stakes, odds and cost of the gamble. And for the fact that I am not capable of bluffing. Now, let's get to the point of the police's intention of "enforcing laws". You say, if the police took my money, it had no intention of enforcing laws. How come? Let me take a step back, and give you an example. What happens if the police finds an illegal drug in a man's pocket? You and others have been suggesting that he should try mordida. So, what if the police took the money. Does it mean they had no interest in enforcing laws? The next situation. What if the guy does NOT try mordida? Would the police let him go? Here is my point. The police might approach the criminal (like me) with the primary intention of (1) mordida. But, the fact that the police took my money does not exclude the possibility that they have the secondary intention of (2) enforcing laws. KRICO reported that the TJ Restaurant Owners Association, which is apparently a powerful org, has recently been pressuring the city to clean up the Rev. How much do you know about this MOST RECENT shakedown of Rev prostitution? Daytimer said he had taken Rev bar girls to hotels numerous times before. I myself took Rev bar girls to the hotels 7-8 times since January. Neither Daytimer or I had any problem before. Something changed recently. What makes you say that the police had no intention of (2) enforcing laws, if (1) mordida was not offered? Are you in the position to know all the intentions of the police and city? As for my first point, you have answered my question by telling me you are not a hypocrite. If I offended you by the use of the word "arrogant", I apologize. My impression on you was formed by your first post, into which I probabaly read more than you wrote. I took it as a harsh post. And you probably see it from my responses. On record, I have said nothing about the use of mordida in situations other than what happened to me. I don't know what I would do if I am stopped by the police for literally nothing. I never possessed guns or even used drugs my entire life (I didn't grow up in the US, he he), so realistically, I don't worry about this.
Best,
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