Leading by example

We had to do some thinking when it came to today's news story. At first, we were caught by the research being done into why the numbers of elderly people dying after a fall was rising so steadily. After all, it seemed like something that we could really dig into. That is, of course, until we remembered that, as a whole, our population is getting older, and nobody has figured out a way to stop that dastardly villain gravity from working his tricks upon our lives. That realization left us grasping at straws.

The straw that we finally grabbed a hold of, however, seems like one that's got some legs to it. After all, how can we pass up the story of a retired police officer going on trial? Specifically, for assault and disorderly conduct? Even more specifically, when the assault and assorted charges were against a cell phone user the former cop thought was being rude?

That's right, folks. Be careful when riding public transportation and using your cell phone. If you're too loud about it, you might get smacked around a bit. Heck, if you're trying to intervene to stop an incident already in progress, you might get smacked around, too. And yet, when the suspect goes on trial, has witnesses to testify against him, represents himself, and still somehow finds a way to get acquitted, you have to wonder. Especially when the actions taken to stop the rude behavior are a little beyond rude in the eyes of many.

Even people who weren't directly tied to this incident expressed a lack of shock over the circumstances, with one alluding to the retired officer as "a dog marking his territory". This just proves that they weren't paying attention. If talking on a cell phone is considered rude by the self-appointed conduct officer, then we can't imagine what he would do if he caught someone urinating on the train.

Although, having spent sometime in NYC subway stations, we're not really sure how many people would have noticed.