View from the cop: Crime & punishment
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AJC.com > Metro > View from the cop > Archives > 2005 > December > 06 > Entry
Santa Rose’s 12 rules of Christmas
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
December brings a month of festive activities and events leading up the New Year. Each region of the United States adds its individual flair to the holidays.
If you are not from the South — and especially Georgia — you should know that we have many regional festivals and traditions such as the annual Festival of Kudzu and the Lighting of the Great Pine Tree located near the Waffle House Museum in Norcross.
The streets are lined with cars, all going exactly where you are and the malls are filled with children giving Santa their list of demands.
The holiday season also brings out the seasonal thieves who make the rounds in the parking lots of the stores and malls. You need to remind yourself that people do steal during the holiday period. The bad guys don’t give much thought to the spirit of Christmas or anything else.
This is also a time where identity theft increases. Make sure that your credit card transactions show (on the merchants copy) only the last four numbers of the credit card. The other numbers should show only an “X. “
Purse thefts will increase and those stolen credit cards will be used within an hour.
If you’re selling items on the Internet, don’t be fooled by scam artists and phony bank checks. Verify everything. Sell items by mail only when youıre assured that the check or money order is legit and has cleared prior to sending the item. If they need the item prior to that, find another buyer.
Don’t put your gifts in the back seat of your car and then go back into the mall or stores without at least trying to put those gifts out of view. If you are one of the seven people in the north Fulton County area who doesn’t own an SUV, use the trunk of your vehicle.
Otherwise, hide everything. Put your purse in that shopping cart? You’re screaming to have it stolen. If you read these reports then I don’t even need to bring the problem with putting your wallet, credit cards, and your $10,000 Rolex into that gym locker.
Once you get those things home just remember that burglars don’t take the holidays off, either. For those of you leaving town, check with your neighborhood watch street captains or coordinators and have your neighbors go by and check the home.
Set your lights and music or TV to timers and let them go for a while, upstairs and downstairs. Have your neighbors pick up the mail and paper.
Keep an eye out for one another and report suspicious activity.
Verify all those Christmas charities that are popping up. Don’t go face-value on anything for the next three weeks.
Exercise some badly needed restraint on the road, and especially in the parking lot of the store.
There’s nothing more embarrassing than to have to hire a lawyer to represent you in magistrate court over getting into a fight over a parking space.
Don’t hit the ATMs after dark unless you absolutely have to. Day or night, check the area around the ATM machine. Thefts from cars are going to increase so take a little extra time and empty that car out before you park it for the night.
Having said all this, don’t forget to smile. It’s Christmastime.
Comments
Commenting is now closed for this entry.
By Steve
December 6, 2005 12:00 PM | Link to this
Geez, this is still going. Simple - Follow the law, AND use common sense and courtesy. They are not mutually exclusive. Problem is, so many people here don’t know the law in the first place. Driving slower than traffic in the left lanes (including the 2nd left lane)? You violate all 3 concepts (law, common sense, courtesy) and are at least as much of a menace as tailgaiters and speeders, often more. Want to merge? It is your responsibility to place yourself in the proper position and speed, use a signal, and the courteous will let you in. Don’t expect them to hit the brakes to make a space for you when you won’t get up to speed. In the end, courtesy or not, it is YOUR responsibility. Someone merging in on you? Either let them in (if they are in position), or move over, but do not cause a merge situation with the 2d lane — it is not a secondary merge lane.
Not passing anyone and have free lanes to your right, move over. Think you are not blocking traffic? You will be soon. Do YOUR job, and less ned to worry about other traffic. Blocking the next-to-the-left lane is often as bad as blocking the left lane, AND it simply causes people to weave in and out on both sides of you and others. In fact, in general, you should stay as far right as reasonable and be PROACTIVE in moving to the right if you are not passing anyone or about to pass, or not keeping up with traffic ahead. If people followed that, regardless of the lane they are in, and regardless of speed, traffic would flow. Often you see many people weaving in and out of the 2-3 left lanes while the 2-3 right lanes are pretty open. Need to pull to the left and pass? Well, pass and pull back over. Don’t dilly daddle and cruise beside the car you are supposed to be passing.
Apply all of these to busy surface streets. The middle of 3 lanes is not the “cruise” lane merely because some people are turning left and right on either side. Again, move as far right as possible and let people go, even if you have to slow down for a turning car now and then. Of course, pass when it is clear, but get back over. So many people have turned 3 lane roads like Peachtree Street into virtually a one lane road with 2 turning lanes. Again, a general rule is if you are not passing or keeping up with traffic in front of you, move to the right.
Notice that nowhere did I mention speed. These guideline apply at 20 mph or 80 mph. If someone wants to drive 100 in the left lane, let them. You will not argue with a straight face that they are dangerous when you are violating the above laws and guidelines by blocking the left lane, thus making it MUCH more dangerous and merely provoling them. They are responsible for whatever tickets they get, or accidents they cause, not you.
This thread is a great example of why drivers ed should be strenuous and mandatory.
By Andrea
December 7, 2005 8:39 PM | Link to this
This morning on my ride in on MARTA, I was reminded of what could be rule #13: Don’t ride Marta to the airport with tons of baggage, all proudly displaying your home address on oversized luggage tags!
By Woodie
December 8, 2005 4:27 PM | Link to this
This Steve character sounded real good for the first two sentences, talking about common sense and courtesy, then he rails about how everyone should move over to the right out of his way so he can speed. You’d think somebody that has common sense and is courteous wouldn’t be complaining about riding in the far right lane like he is suggesting everyone else to do. I quess maybe he doesn’t spend much time in the right lane. In fact, I bet old Steve is a dangerous speed freak who can’t figure out why everyone wants to move to the left so he can’t get around them.
By Abby Normal
December 9, 2005 1:14 PM | Link to this
As a responsible driver, when I see someone speeding in the right lane, I promptly slam on my brakes in front of them just to tick them off. When I spot a weaver speeding up behind, I make every effort to block them. And when I see a driver swerving on the road while talking on their cell phone, I pace them with my horn blaring.
This takes the edge off my long commute and gives me something to do.
By leighway
December 10, 2005 9:34 AM | Link to this
This seems to be a good blog visited by intelligent well-meaning people. It’s a pleasure to contribute. Often I have thought about people who have committed foolish acts that resulted in a lifetime of regret and punishment and it always seems to come down to one split second of choice. In one second, the choice is made and the deed is done, never to be undone. And how often we have heard people say, if only I could step back in time to the point where I had a choice? I try to remind myself of this when my temper flairs and I want to personally alert someone to the extraordinary need they have to be hit with a 2x4. And as I’m remembering this, I also realize that life itself will take care of these people in one form or another. It’s not my job this time around to correct those types of mistakes. It’s amazing how far one can back-up when one calls to mind the horrible consequences others, who might have been pretty good folks normally, have faced.I don’t want to join their ranks. Hopefully, this realization will be available for someone else to call to mind, when they’re ready to join the ranks of the regretful. Thanks for making this space available for me to add my thoughts.
By Tim
December 10, 2005 11:24 PM | Link to this
Some day you are going to get shot for your traffic vigilante justice, and I can’t say I’ll be too torn up about it. Police enforce the traffic laws, and they have bullet proof vests. Have you bought yours yet? Didn’t think so. And do you have kids? Or other passengers? Slamming on your brakes might not hurt you, or the guy speeding behind you, but you will someday cause an accident, and is indirectly killing someone a fair price to pay for proving a point? I believe you might be putting more lives in danger than a speeding or weaving driver could ever accomplish.
By Randy Howard
December 11, 2005 11:25 AM | Link to this
In Rural North Georgia a lot of us have to take our Trash to a Compactor Site or the land fill, we don’t have city or county trash collection. I had my trash bagged and ready to go take to the compactor site the other day. I set the trash bags in a big box, wrapped some old Christmas paper around it and set it in the back of my truck. I went to the Local Shopping Mall, parked and went in for approximately 30 min. When I returned to my truck the box with my trash was gone.
Merry Christmas to the people that saved me a trip to the compactor; the trash was nothing more than my kitchen trash and my shredded bills and junk mail.
By rob
December 11, 2005 1:18 PM | Link to this
Awesome. Like the story of the lady walking her dog when the purse-snatcher snatched and ran off with her bag (of dog doo-doo).