For The Record, I Have Nothing Against Police Officers...(also for the record, I don't like doing ranting posts, but this one is rather necessary)

I just want to make a disclaimer before anyone reads this post.
I think Police Officers are generally wonderful, brave people who have a lot of crap to deal with on their job, and many of them deal with said crap with unbelievable grace and dignity.
I respect them and think they're doing the best they can.

And then there are those cops that you wish you could yell at because they are abusing their power so much, but you can't because they're cops, and they'll always win.
This is not all cops. Not even most cops. This is an elite few.
Please don't think of me as a cop-hater. Because I'm not.

Alright.
Now, about Saturday morning.

So, Me, Ben, and our friend Joe all went to Warped Tour in Illinois on Saturday.
We left at around 8 in the morning because we wanted to be there early so we could get in early.
The only real flaw in our plan was the fact that the venue, for some godforsaken reason decided that it was necessary to keep the gates to the parking lot closed until 10 AM, thus causing a horrendous traffic fiasco.
Not traffic jam. Traffic fiasco.
A traffic jam implies that it's slow, maybe even stopped traffic on some road somewhere, and it seems like it takes forever because its rush hour and everyone wants to get home and drink beer...or whatever else angry workers drink when they get home.
A traffic fiasco is when nothing makes any sense, people are driving on the wrong side of the road, no one knows where exactly the entrance to the parking lot is because there's like 3 of them and one of them is for staff only, except they don't tell you what one is for staff only, so you just kind of guess, and then you guess wrong and have to turn around and pull out into the cluster-fuck that has become the road, thus causing MORE issues for the massive line of 500+ cars that has lined up and has no where to go.

Traffic fiascos are no fun.

ANYWAY, we get to the venue, the gates are closed, so we pull off to the side of the road where everyone else is waiting.
Half an hour later, some guy walks up and says "Hey, you guys need to move, cause this line of cars is blocking this road, and the village is going to get upset, so we just really need you guys to move, alright?"
Totally polite, explained the situation clearly and calmly, and then he moved on to the next car.

So we left.

At this point, we either had to:
A) Drive around and waste gas for an hour, which we didn't have the money to do.
B) Find somewhere else to park.

So, We drove down street Number One (where we had been parked originally) and turned onto Street Number Two, where we parked somewhere in the circled region.

The road was not busy. There were no No parking signs visible to us. We were a very respectable distance from the stop sign.
We also had our hazards on, just in case.

This is where the trouble began.

Two cops pull into the intersection of streets one and two and stop, presumably to get ready to direct traffic into the entrance that was right at that intersection.
Cop number 1 gets out, and starts waving us forward, telling us to move.

So we immediately put the car in drive and pull up. We stop by the cops and Ben leans out his window and says, very politely, "Excuse me, Sir, why are we not allowed to park there?"
"There's no parking there." Cop #1 says, in a way that already shows he's expecting a fight.
"Sir, we didn't see any no parking signs over there."
"Oh, well, you were obstructing traffic, just...just move. You gotta move. You can't park there."

So, even though that is bullshit, we drive off.
You see, my friends, there was no real traffic to obstruct, only the occasional car or two.
Also, Cop #1 said that all in a very rude manner, like in his head he was thinking "fucking teenagers and their fucking concerts. assholes." even though we weren't assholes to him.

So we drive around looking for another place to park and wait. Nothing.
We drive back by where the cops are and ask (again, very politely) "Excuse me, Sir, do you know of a place we can park?"
"No, I don't care, Drive around, Do whatever, just get out of here."
Again, very rude, for no reason what-so-ever.

So, as we were driving off we kind of...sort of...flipped them the bird.
Admittedly, that was probably a bad decision.
But it in no way warranted the ridiculousness that was about to occur.

Finally, the gates open, and we get in line to enter.
We get to the entrance after waiting FOREVER.
Cop #1 walks up, laughs and says "Oh ho ho, I've been waiting for YOU. Pull over."

So we did. Even though he had really no reason to try and pull us over. Giving someone the finger isn't against the law, last time I checked.
Also, this cop should have been busy directing traffic, NOT harassing teenagers, but who am I to say what his job was?

So Cop #1 walks up to the window and says "So you like flipping off cops, do you?" and then asks for Ben's license, takes it, and says "Alright, I'm gonna go see what violations I can find to give you a ticket for."
He was literally just looking for things to give us a ticket for. Even though there was nothing.
It was at this point I started to get pissed off.

SIDE NOTE:
I am terrified of authority.
I've never done anything wrong in my life. I've never gotten a detention, and the last warning I got was in 5th grade for blowing straw wrappers at my friends. The one and only time I was called down to the Dean's Office in my high school was to claim my lost flash drive that I had left in the library.
I'm a good kid. I do whatever possible to stay out of trouble, because at the first sign of anyone in authority, I freak the fuck out.
Also, I was PMSing that day. And while that is probably too much information, it is important to the story because when I am PMSing, I am overly emotional over anything ever.

So Cop #1 leaves with Ben's license.
His partner, Cop #2, also decides that it is really, really important to neglect his traffic duties to go harass teenagers, and comes over to the passenger side of the car, my side.
"Do you two have your ID's on you? I need to see them." Cop #2 says to Joe and I.
I, being furious already, say "Why?"
"Because I'm a cop and I can ask you who you are." He says, raising his voice to me.

So we give him the licenses. He then asks Ben, "So, what happened?"
"Well, We were..."
"What happened??"
"....I'm trying to tell you."
The cop blatantly interrupted Ben in the middle of Ben trying to answer his question.

Now, while this happened, I began smirking, because when I am on the verge of tears I do whatever I can to not cry, because crying in public is bad, because I look like 4 train wrecks and a house fire when I cry, and I didn't want to look like that at warped tour.
So when I'm about to cry, I get really, really sarcastic. Which was bad.
I started "smirking", according to Cop #2, which he promptly yelled at me for.

"What is so funny!" He said, once again raising his voice to me, because clearly I am the one who is going to give him the most problems because I'm the most threatening, being about 5'2" and weighing less than 100 lbs. I'm often mistaken for a 12 year old.
In a car of 2 guys and 1 girl, WHY WOULD YOU START HARASSING THE GIRL. ESPECIALLY SINCE SHE'S TINY AND HAS NEVER HAD ANY RUN INS WITH THE POLICE BEFORE, WHICH HE SHOULD HAVE SEEN ON MY RECORD WHEN HE SEARCHED IT.

Because I grew up believing that when someone is being rude and unimaginably unfair to you you are supposed to protest and say something about it, because that is your right as a human being, instead of looking down and saying "nothing, sir," I instead replied like this:
"Well, sir, I honestly find this a little ridiculous."
"Oh yeah?? Why!"
"Because just because we're teenagers doesn't mean you need to treat us like crap!"

Well...I said something like that.
Or at least that's what I meant.
When I'm angry/about to cry I don't make very much sense.

So then he goes off on this big tangent about how he "has to deal with us goddamned teenagers all goddamned day" and so on and so forth.
then, my favorite part:
"You just don't flip of a cop, okay?"
"Why? It's just a finger." said Ben.
"Well, its disrespectful and...yeah, its disrespectful...i mean...How would you feel if I flipped off your mother?"
"Honestly, sir, she'd probably flip you off right back." (Best line ever. Said by Ben. Because he has balls)
"Well, no, how would you feel? See, it's just disrespectful and rude, and...I DON'T GET WHAT'S SO FUNNY."

That last part was directed at me again.
And then, as tears started finally leaking out of my face, I yell back "I'M NOT LAUGHING, I'M TRYING NOT TO CRY."

AND THEN.
HE CONTINUES TO HARASS ME.
ME!! NOW, NOT ONLY DO I LOOK LIKE I'M 12, BUT I'M A CRYING GIRL WHO LOOKS LIKE SHE'S 12. WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU CONTINUE YELLING AT SOMEONE AT THAT POINT?!

He is all "Why are you still laughing!"
and Ben finally said "She's not, sir, She's fine."
You'd think he'd leave me alone at that point, but no.
As Cop #2 is walking away, he's all "I don't know what's still so freaking funny, you're gonna get him in more trouble!" Pointing at Ben. Making me feel like I did something wrong, when I didn't do one single thing wrong, other than try and stand up to a bully.
But apparently standing up to a bully only works in 5th grade...it also only works if the bully doesn't have a badge.

So then Cop #1 finally comes back over, gives our IDs back, and is all "There are some interesting notes on your record..." To Ben.
Ben asks "...What does that even mean?"
"There are just some interesting notes on file. Don't flip of cops."

and then they let us go.
No ticket, no warning, no NOTHING.
They gave us all that shit for no reason.

because we flipped. them. off.

Now I want to reiterate, I have nothing against Police Officers. I think they are doing the best they can even though they get a lot of shit from a lot of people.

What I have a problem with is assholes who go on power trips and like to be jerks for no real reason other than because they get their rocks off by asserting their dominance over people just to prove they can.

Cop #2, I hope you felt really good about yourself for making me cry. Because you know, you could have stopped yelling at me at any point, but you didn't, because we were disrespectful.

I think its disrespectful to make tiny girls cry, but I guess that's just me.

Also, Cops # 1 and 2, PLEASE go flip off Ben's mom.
I promise, she will kick both of your asses at once. with one hand. blindfolded.

And that, my friends, is the story of how some people are jerks for no reason.

I promise, Wednesday I will post something a lot less pissy and more childish and humorous.
I can't decide if I want to talk about my first trip to disney world (which would involve me posting a hilarious picture of me on Test Trek), or about the time I massacred a hundred tadpoles and burned them alive.

You'll find out on Wednesday!

oooo the suspense. haha.