Consider stocking up for election

(My Eastern New Mexico News column for September 23, 2020)

Stocking up on food and supplies before the worst part of the forced shutdowns could turn out to have been good practice for what may be coming after the presidential election.

Especially considering the new vacancy on the Supreme Court. This development is just another piece in the colorful puzzle called 2020, and will probably make uncivil unrest more likely than before. This vacancy shouldn't come as a great shock to anyone. The shoe has been waiting to drop for years. People have had plenty of time to get used to the idea. Why didn't they?

Whatever the reasons, this latest turn of events doesn't bode well for social harmony.

If the more aggressive factions among us are upset over the outcome of the election and express their unhappiness in their favorite ways, the supply chain may be disrupted again. Possibly even more than it was before. Are you ready for empty store shelves again?

You're probably in better shape to ride out any new shortages thanks to the pandemic. Now, also focus on the possibility of social turmoil if the riotous crowd doesn't get the election result it wants.

Those who loot and burn businesses belonging to people who might have been on their side otherwise haven't shown much capacity for considering the costs of their actions. I don't imagine they'll suddenly get smarter. They'll starve themselves, and you, to show you just how angry they are if they don't get their way.

I don't expect violence to break out locally, but as you probably notice if you've seen our hazy skies recently, things which happen far away can affect us. Be ready just in case.

Stock up on the things you wished you had bought before the last shortages. Don't forget water. Make sure you have enough to ride out at least the time between the election and the inauguration. More would be better. Encourage your friends to do the same.

I'm not saying it will happen; just that it's a possibility and I can see how the election along with the Supreme Court vacancy could trigger it.

Maybe nothing big will happen and in a few months we can all laugh about how wrong and paranoid I was. We can hope. Don't bet your life on it, though; I'm not going to. I would rather take the risk of being a laughingstock than to see you caught off-guard by rough circumstances. Consider it my sacrifice for your sake. You're welcome.

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Ready or not, the pre-scheduled unrest is approaching

Are you stocked up and ready for post-election "sports"? 

I think I'm OK, although if I get any unexpected donations I have a few last-minute things I'll stock up on.

Most likely, nothing big will happen right after the election. The losers on both sides will have a whine-off. One side will imagine they won. And the State will grow more powerful and ever more intrusive.

But, there is a chance that unrest will disrupt things for a while.

This is one time there's an actual date on the calendar that we can prep for. A date we know because the enemies of society have announced their intentions and you'd be wise to listen.

A clear date to prepare for doesn't often happen and I'm not planning to fail by failing to plan. It's like ignoring a tornado warning-- sure, you'll probably be fine, but won't you feel like an idiot if it actually hits and you ignored your chance to do something to prepare?

Ready or not, here it comes. Please at least consider being ready. It can't hurt and it might just help.

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"Stop writing!"

Whenever a reader of my newspaper column strongly disagrees with me and emails to let me know, they don't give reasons. They just tell me I should stop writing until I agree with them.

Seriously, that's what they do almost every time without exception. Sometimes they also disparage my looks, my upbringing, and tell me to "go back where I came from" (which I did and why they are subjected to me). But, almost every time they include the barb that I need to stop writing until I change my opinion to agree with them. Without them giving me any reasons why I should agree with them.

An unhappy reader of this week's column ended her email with these words: "You need to stop writing until you face reality."* What "reality" is she referring to? I suppose that shutdowns are necessary and doctors say so. 

It's the same story time after time. Critic after critic. No reasons, just "stop writing". My words are so dangerous they can't be allowed out into the world. Or something.

Which makes me think they know they have no ground to stand on.

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*Full text: "Inconsiderate
You tell people to go ahead and get out in the same paper that the doctors are asking us to stay in as much as possible. You are incredibly inconsiderate. You go ahead and get out and when you get sick, we’ll just say 'Sure there was a cost' but he knew and was happy to risk it.
You need to stop writing until you face reality."

But, she's right about one thing. I know there is a cost and I'm happy to risk it. Even if I get sick and die.

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You have no right to...

Rights are more about what you have no right to do than about what you do have a right to do.

You have a right to govern yourself. You can't have a right to govern anyone but yourself. Such a right can't exist any more than any other right to enslave.

You have the right to join with others to form a government, even one based on politics. You have no right to impose that government on anyone else outside your group which explicitly consented. Implied "consent" isn't real-- it is a euphemism for aggressive molestation.

You have a right to have police. You have no right to impose those police on others who haven't been violating your life, liberty, or property directly, nor to force anyone else to help you fund them. No one owes your police anything-- not respect, obedience, or deference. If your police violate anyone in any way, you are as guilty as they are because you hired the gangsters and they work for you.

On the above issues there's a very narrow scope that is libertarian-- only the first sentence of each paragraph-- where you have the right to do those things... up to a point. But once you cross that point into the following sentences you are archating. You have no right to archate. No matter how you spin it.

If these things are difficult for you to understand or uncomfortable to face, the problem is yours. No one is obligated to explain it to you or to coddle your feelings.

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"Not a real libertarian"

Do you follow the ZAP (or whatever you prefer to call it) to the best of your ability? Or do you equivocate and make excuses for archation you support?

If you do the first, you are a "real libertarian". If you're the second, no, you're not a libertarian.

It's not really a difficult thing to figure out. Some people try to make it harder than it is.

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Dangerous statism

I don't agree in principle with "conservatives" (Right-Statists) or "liberals"/"progressives" (Left-Statists) because I oppose statism in any form. Looking to govern anyone but yourself is going beyond what you have a right to do.

But I do think Left-Statists may be the more dangerous of the two.

Left-Statists want to dictate the very words you can use. Not words of "obscenity" or actual hate-- which shouldn't be banned either-- but words which might speak a truth that upsets them. This is truly totalitarian and nasty. Left-Statists have even perverted the words "liberal" and "progress", applying them to the opposite of what they mean, to fit their dishonest agenda.

Neither side is a fan of science, evidence, and reason when those things go against what they want to be true. They just vary on the specific areas they want to be shielded from scientific inquiry.

Left-Statists want to dictate what you can put into your body just as much as the Right-Statists do, but based on different criteria. While the Right-Statists want to ban things that might make you feel nice but (in some cases) harm you if abused, the Left-Statists want to dictate what you ingest based on what they imagine current nutritional science says. Yes, potential harm is still the excuse and it is still no one's business either way.

Right-Statists generally want you able to defend yourself, they just don't want you to defend yourself from America's largest and most aggressive gang. Which is a really bizarre exception to make. Left-Statists don't want you to be able to defend yourself at all if it means using tools they are scared of.

Right-Statists don't usually riot and destroy property and kill "noncombatants", while Left-Statists seem more than willing to encourage each other to do so, and to actually sometimes do so. If you aren't rioting with them, they assume you are their enemy. Not a smart strategy.

I'm not on the side which wants to dictate anything. I dislike statism but I'm not stupid enough to propose banning it. You can't fix the world by becoming that which you believe is wrong.

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Covid test results too late to be of any use

The above documents were received 9 days after a household member was sent (by their employer) to be tested for Covid-19. The positive results were phoned to this individual, by "the state", 6 days after the test. I think the results were a little late to be of any practical use.

Especially since the person in question hadn't been having any symptoms other than a "fever" of less than a degree. They might be infected, but they aren't sick.

This individual had been tested 3 times previously. Two of those tests were done in Texas and the results took similarly long to come back-- although the others were a day or two quicker, even taking the weekend into account. Those times the slow results weren't an issue because the tests were all negative. The test which was done in New Mexico was of the speedy "10-minute results" variety, also negative.

Once again, I have been marinating in coronavirus. Surely I have built up some immunity by now! So far I don't think I've gotten sick. I'm still self-quarantining over this latest contamination for the most part. A couple of friends were also exposed largely because "if the test had been positive they'd have called already". Oops! Never assume The State is timely or competent, or that medicine will be done correctly once politicized.

I'll let you know if I seem to come down with The 'Rona, although I'm not going to submit to testing as long as I'm conscious.

Which reminds me, the state's "contact tracing" office (department? has called me twice so far. I didn't answer because I didn't recognize the number. The second time they called they left a message. They want to speak to me. They'll probably continue to be disappointed. I know I've been exposed (again). I'm doing what I can to not expose anyone else. I don't think there's anything useful they can contribute to the conversation.

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Stay consistent with your beliefs

(My Eastern New Mexico News column for September 16, 2020)

I wish people were more consistent.

Many people in this country say they are for smaller, or "limited", government. Most change their minds as soon as they think of something they want government to give them or do for them. If it takes bigger, more powerful, and intrusive government to get what they want, they're happy to sacrifice you on this altar. Big government is suddenly their friend.

They are against reckless government spending until they're hoping to get a check. Maybe it's a stimulus check, a subsidy, or a Ponzi scheme like Social Security. Maybe it's even a government contract.

People love liberty until there's something they don't like; suddenly they want to restrict someone else's liberty a little bit more. The "other side" is willing to do the same to them, so it goes back and forth until everyone is enslaved.

Something similar is happening now with limits on speech being imposed from every direction-- all endorsed and empowered by, if not coming directly from, government. Legislation banning limits on speech by non-government institutions is not the answer either. Simply keeping government out of the issue instead of propping it up would see it soon fizzle and fail.

Some voters claim to want a small-government candidate but believe their choice is limited to the two "mainstream" candidates who are both advocates for massive government. They believe voting for the candidate who actually agrees with them and is on their side is "wasting their vote". This was an effective trick to play on the people.

I understand all of it, even if I don't agree, and even though I believe every vote hurts.

To preach small government as long as it's convenient, but to abandon this in favor of big government as soon as you want it to do something new-- or to keep doing something old-- isn't consistent.

I'd rather people be consistent, even if someone is consistently against me. This way I know what to expect from them. Consistency doesn't mean someone is right-- it's as possible to be consistently wrong as it is to be consistently right-- but inconsistency always means they are wrong somewhere.

Everyone falls into this trap. Even libertarians. The difference is, do you know you've done it, or do you try to justify it to make your conscience comfortable again?

If you really support liberty and smaller government please act on this principle consistently, even when an attractive lure is dangled in front of you.

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Statists fear liberty

Why are statists so desperate to have you believe liberty can't work?

They'll say you can't have liberty or you'll be invaded and defeated by warlords or other countries (as if there's a difference).
They'll say you can't have liberty or you'll be robbed, raped, enslaved, or murdered.

Of course, they don't frame their position as arguing against liberty unless they are a Left-Statist, but they all are.

You can show them their fears are unfounded or overblown, but they don't relent. They are so opposed to liberty that they can't even imagine how it could work. They spend all their energy finding ways to scare themselves-- and you-- away from it, instead.

They'll often say things about the necessity to accept "incremental moves toward liberty" while advocating you v*te for politicians who would move society away from liberty.

They'll propose their "compromise" between freedom and tyranny by saying you "need" police and a theft-funded military to keep from being overrun by (other) bad guys. But liberty? Unthinkable!

Honestly, they make me sick. Cowardice isn't attractive.

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Non-profit or theft-funded?

I don't see "non-profit" as a noble thing. Especially since, in most cases, it means it is supported by money stolen by government. I wouldn't want that on my résumé.

I would much rather someone provide a product or service and be rewarded with profit for doing so. 

An ethical non-profit would only be supported by charity, since charity is purely voluntary. Someone sees the value being provided and chooses to chip in to help keep it going. A voluntary trade still occurs. If it can't attract enough support to keep it going, it goes away. This is as it should be.

If something can't make it without being funded by theft it needs to die. No matter how important someone imagines it to be. That doesn't only apply to institutes and social programs. That goes for roads, libraries, schools, police, the military, museums, etc. No exceptions.

Even though it doesn't claim the title, all of government is a coercive non-profit organization-- no profit, but great, dishonest financial gain for the players. 

If government can be financed by either attracting voluntary customers who carry the entire costs of maintaining it-- earning it a "profit"-- or by attracting voluntary charity, then you can keep your government. Otherwise, let it die a well-deserved death. I neither want nor need it and I certainly can't afford to keep funding something as unwanted as that obsolete "non-profit", theft-funded institution.

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My daily carry knives

Someone recently asked about "the knife" I carry on a daily basis. Actually, I carry 5, at a minimum, at all times.

I've written about some of them in my EDC posts, but here are all the knives in one place.

This is what I am carrying today, but I enjoy switching them up a little sometimes. 

Going from left to right, top to bottom, the bone-handled primitive folding knife is just a cheap Pakistani knife that I carried in my mountainman gear long ago. It's not the best steel, but unlike some other Pakistani knives I have seen, it does a decent job of holding an edge. It has been on my belt for a couple of months this time.

I usually carry this Buck 501 instead, but this is some of that switching it up I like to do. Sometimes I carry a Buck 110 as my main folder, but I find it a little too large to be as versatile as the smaller folding knives. But I do enjoy carrying it, so it may be next in the rotation.

The big fixed blade is the Kershaw Deer Hunter my dad gave me for my 12th or 13th birthday. It has been my main carry knife anytime I am in "modern" clothes. So, I didn't carry it as much when I lived in Colorado, usually carrying my Green River knife and my handmade Bowie, instead. But for the past decade, it hasn't left my side.

The Kershaw and the folding knife are the two which get the vast majority of use.

But there are the others.

I have two hobo tools, both with their own knife blade. The one with the bone handle is unmarked, so I don't know who made it, and the stainless one is a Coleman (I carry it as a loaner-- the blade doesn't hold a good edge). The unmarked one is razor-sharp and holds a good edge, but I save it for food cutting.

The SOG key knife stays on my key ring. It's cute and sharp and I only use it occasionally.

I also have a Buck 397 that rides in a sheath on my "Indiana Jones" shoulder bag strap. (No, the bag isn't an actual MkVII gas mask bag, but it serves the purpose when I need to carry stuff.) It was sharpened to "razor+" sharpness by one of my readers. I include it because I do carry that bag pretty regularly, especially when I walk to the post office (since we don't have home delivery in town).

I also carry other knives based on my mood. And I'm always in the mood to carry knives. If I had the money for more knives I always have a list of knives I'd like to get. "Too many knives" makes no sense to me.

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Presenting a new service

I have started a subscription-only preparedness blog on locals.com. It is called Casually Serious Prepping.

For a limited time, you can gain free access using coupon code PANICDEMIC (from October 15, 2020, until October 29, 2020... if I did that right).

Please spread the link around to anyone who might benefit. 

I hope to see you there.

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"Lawlessness" is impossible

There is no such thing as "lawlessness". Law exists whether you follow it or not. Only someone who confuses legislation for law would call the lack of legislation enforcement or the lack of following legislation "lawlessness".

Those things can be a symptom of a general disregard for Law, especially if it results in widespread violations of life, liberty, and property. However, enforcement of legislation also results in widespread violations of life, liberty, and property. Just institutionalized rather than freelance.

Yet, legislation enforcement is often-- maybe normally-- against the Law. Legislation enforcers are ignoring the Law in favor of legislation; counterfeit "law". By enforcing legislation they are breaking the Law. They are criminals in the purest sense.

There is no difference between a burglar stealing your TV and a cop "confiscating" someone's Cannabis or guns from their home, except that legislation forbids the victim to shoot the cop, but not (generally) the freelance burglar. 

By contrast, the Law-- real Law-- recognizes the absolute human right to defend your property from anyone who tries to violate it. Legislation is against the Law.

You don't need legislation or legislation enforcers to enforce the Law. It's YOUR responsibility, even if you don't want it. You can't legitimately abdicate this responsibility. To decry the abolition of police as advocating "lawlessness" demonstrates gross ignorance and a lack of respect for the Law.

The Law is simply: Don't archate. Or, more completely: "You have no right to archate, and if you do, your victims have the right to defend themselves, others, and property from you".

You don't need legislation or legislation enforcement officers to have the right to defend against archators. You can hire your own if you wish, but you have no right to impose them on others or force others to fund them. Doing so is against the Law; it is an attempt to spread "lawlessness" to society. It is antisocial.

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Welcome to the party, Pal

It seems as though the trend over time is for the "experts" to come to agree-- step by step-- with my initial thoughts on the coronavirus, one of which was that "it looks to me as though the panic is a much bigger problem than the virus". (I include government overreactions which caused the vast majority of the panic.)

It's a strange thing to watch happen. No, I'll never get credit for being correct all along because I'm an invisible nobody. I still find it oddly satisfying to see.

Am I happy that non-credible government-supremacists are following the evidence to lead them to where I've always been? Not exactly. Having people of that small caliber agreeing with me isn't a ringing endorsement.

I'm not going to change my mind just because they finally agree with me, though. I staked out this spot first, they are the latecomers. It's just amazing that they ever got here at all.

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I have no tolerance for bureaucracy

(My Eastern New Mexico News column for September 9, 2020)

This week I was reminded how intensely I dislike bureaucracy. People who impose bureaucracy on the rest of us are as useful to society as plague-spreading fleas. You might believe bureaucracy has a place and is beneficial, but you'd be mistaking government for society; its opposite.

I have no tolerance for bureaucracy or authoritarianism. My preference doesn't threaten anyone; yet those who thrive on bureaucracy and authoritarianism can't leave the rest of us alone. We must be assimilated and forced to comply with their petty demands.

Everyone has a different temperament. Leave room for everyone who doesn't harm others.

Those who value and understand liberty respect individual differences, but this doesn't work for people who lust for control through bureaucracy. If someone doesn't go along, it threatens their entire house of cards.

When bureaucrats are empowered by an authoritarian system I find myself wishing misfortune on them.

I have met people who love bureaucracy; as if they get a thrill from dotting i's and crossing t's. Fine, but keep it to yourself. It's not alright to impose this on the rest of us. Forcing bureaucracy on people who don't want it is as antisocial as holding someone down and forcing them to drink your minnow smoothie.

Unwanted bureaucracy steals your time as surely as taxation steals your money. Bureaucracy and taxation usually go together.

Still, my temperament is such that I'll stay out of your way and let you engage in all the bureaucracy you want, even if it involves using authoritarian power against others who want to play your game by the rules your club has agreed to. Just keep it inside your club and don't try to force it on the rest of us or on the whole society.

I have no responsibility to cooperate with being numbered, categorized, or tracked. I feel no sympathy for those who try to force this on me.

No one needs to accept the numbers assigned to them, nor to remember or share those numbers-- as if they are valid-- with anyone else. No one has an obligation to pay for the freedom to exercise their natural human rights. No one is responsible for incriminating themselves by filling out forms to government specifications, to satisfy any record-keeping agenda. No one has done wrong if they refuse to answer questions which are no one's concern. If you imagine otherwise, you're part of the bureaucracy and a part of the problem.

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Don't get complacent

I feel like a SHTF event is imminent. Notice I don't say I think it is, rather it's just a feeling. Possibly triggered by the upcoming election.

I don't have a crystal ball. I'm almost definitely wrong.

If you can see it coming, it's not going to happen. That's almost a guarantee.

Just like the Coronapocalypse came at us out of nowhere, triggered by unexpected government overreactions to a fairly normal virus, a more serious event will also be a surprise. Consider the Coronapanic a practice run. It should have shown you the holes in your preps if you were paying attention.

I lucked out with the panicdemic because I was ready. Well, maybe it wasn't completely luck; I've prepped for years "just in case", and it finally paid off. I was pretty sure I wouldn't see it coming when it finally happened, and I didn't. But it didn't matter because I stay ready all the time-- and I have done so since well before the Y2K fizzle. I intend to be just as ready, if not more ready, the next time something comes along.

Now, even though governments are still desperate to fan the flames of concern with regard to Covid-19, most people (excepting raging government-supremacists) are over it.

It would be easy to breathe a sigh of relief now and let the prepping slide. It's hard to keep up with it all the time. Other things seem more pressing during the calm after the storm. I can't let myself fall into that trap, even if it means I am at odds with those around me. After the storm is also-- in every instance-- before another storm. This isn't going to be the exception.

I feel an internal pressure to keep up the preps. I'm going to listen to it even if I look silly for doing so.

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I'm considering starting a subscription-only prepping/survival blog. That or a subscription-only beginner homeschooling blog. Either one would be from the perspective of someone who is NOT an expert and doesn't really know what they are doing, but is learning as they go. If it happens, I'll announce it here. Or, if you have a better suggestion, let me know.

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If you could chip in...

If anyone would like the opportunity to chip in, this would be an excellent time. I'm in need of money for some necessities. Paypal.me/Dullhawk

I realize blogging shouldn't be a job, but you do what you can with what's available. All my other income sources have dried up and blown away-- one-by-one. My situation doesn't lend itself to a job outside the home for family reasons.

I've wondered if there's another topic I could start a different blog to cover that:

1. I could write about and have enough interest in to keep it going and 
2. that would be more popular and earn more support than the topic of liberty does.

So far I've come up empty.

If you can't, or don't want to help, I'm OK with that. You certainly aren't obligated to do so. If you can, want to, and do, you have my gratitude.

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Amazing Stories and Fantastical Tales

Sometimes it's good to just listen to people's stories without interrupting, even when you know the stories are nonsense.

My 2nd wife used to tell of a ghost that lived in her house when she was a kid. It was an interesting story even though I didn't believe it. I learned quickly that her family was very prone to believe anything as long as it fit with their magical worldview.

Other people tell me stories about beneficial things political government can do. These stories are no more true-- in the sense of being objective reality-- than ghost stories, but they can still be informative if you want to know which particular superstitions a person is living under.

Interrupt and you'll never hear the whole tale. Listen and you might be entertained by some fantastical tales of magical realms. Just don't bet your life on them being true.

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How not to solve problems

My nature is such that I simply can't see government as a solution to anything. This puts me at odds with most of the rest of my species.

Yes, I think "social media" has become a horror. This doesn't mean I want government to regulate it; it means I think people who don't like it (or are too dumb to know not to take it at face value) should probably stop using it.

The same is true of so many other things I don't like. 

Litter/pollution, scammers, sexual predators, abortion, animal cruelty, Hillary Clinton, poverty, drug abuse, pandemics, crime, and all manner of awful things.

I may hate them, but that doesn't mean I want government to step in. Look how often that has the opposite effect anyway; making the original problem worse-- or at least not solving it-- while also creating a host of new problems that never would have existed otherwise (anti-gun legislation being a perfect example).

And even if government intervention doesn't make this specific problem worse this particular time, it only means you got lucky for once. You may have dodged a bullet this time; it doesn't mean you'll be so lucky next time. Leave government out of the loop if you know what's good for you and for society. Plus, it's the only ethical option.

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Cops called on a family member!

Today a family member had a run-in with cops due to an elderly dementia sufferer's confusion. Fortunately no one was killed this time.

She was leaving PlastiCrap World, unlocked the passenger door, placed her purse and other items in the passenger side, then went around to the driver's side to discover (a sign of Condition White) an elderly woman trying to unlock the door with a key that didn't fit.

She asked what the woman was doing and she said she was trying to get in her truck. Family Member said "This is my truck" and the old woman started saying she had stolen it. And she called 911.

Now, if you want to make me hate you, call the cops on me. I see that as a threat to murder me and I don't appreciate it one little bit. Family Member didn't see it quite that harshly.

Cops showed up quickly and treated Family Member like a criminal as she tried to explain. The old woman was also upset, saying "See what she's done to my truck?" in response to the decals all over the vehicle.

The cops asked Family Member for ID, which was in her purse in the seat, which they didn't want to let her get because they still thought she might be a car thief.

Eventually, as it became more clear the old woman was seriously confused, they let FM get her purse and the registration to show it was hers and had been for almost a year.

The old woman said, "Well, I have a white truck." The cops took her away to get help.

Now, were these good cops? Haha, no. They were nice cops (after a rocky start) and they did something somewhat useful. And no one was murdered at their hands. I guess that's all you can expect from such a situation.

Although, personally, if it had been me, as soon as I realized what was going on, I would have just hopped in the passenger side, scooted behind the wheel and drove away. Maybe Family Member handled it more compassionately than I would have.

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