r/facepalm Jul 11 '24

šŸ‡²ā€‹šŸ‡®ā€‹šŸ‡øā€‹šŸ‡Øā€‹ Mom needs to go back to school.

Post image
83.7k Upvotes

5.8k comments sorted by

View all comments

10.7k

u/CasualObserverNine Jul 11 '24

So you went to war so your state could set their own speed limits?

4.5k

u/Keith_Kong Jul 11 '24

People really donā€™t give Texas the freedom credits they deserve. You may not be able to smoke weed, be an immigrant, or control what you do with your own bodyā€¦ but damned if those roads donā€™t give you the freedom of speed. Pretty sure I was on a 90mph freeway at one point driving through that cowboy theme park.

1.6k

u/gwarfums Jul 11 '24

Am Texan. Texans like to shout "Come and take it!" And wave around the fun little snake flag; both of those things mean "Tread on me, daddy. lemme taste them boots". But we do have pretty good roads; we kind of have to when it's so far between notable points of interest. I-10 let's you go real fast, and is pretty straight!

755

u/Ditto_D Jul 12 '24

God help you if you get off the highway and get onto the FM roads

55 miles per hour and Full of potholes you have to actively dodge so you dont shred your tires

2 miles later 75 miles per hour on dark narrow 2 lane FM roads smooth as silk

few more miles the speed limit drops to 6 miles an hour with Humphry chilling out over the 1 hill in town and his wife hasn't had sexual relations with him the past 8 months because he doesn't get what what a safeword is and his mother in law is in town so he is a bit on edge and asks to search your car with absolutely no reason and will tell you to wait for a canine for 20 minutes if you don't agree to have your car searched.

465

u/gwarfums Jul 12 '24

The local county pd used to harass teenagers on their way from highschool; pull them over for minor infractions and berate them, accusing them of drinking. Happened to a friend of mine; had him in tears and even took his phone when he tried to call his parents. I'm not saying all cops are bad, but I'm not sure how to tell which ones are good when they all wear the same uniform.

193

u/SaltEfan Jul 12 '24

Russian Roulette is safe 5/6 times. Itā€™s only one bad chamber after allā€¦

Most people would treat it as if every chamber was loaded and stay away. Chances of hitting a bad cop might be quite low in comparison, but the principle remains when theyā€™re able to ruin your day just as badly.

10

u/kelldricked Jul 12 '24

I mean chance of meeting a bad cop are pretty non existing unless your country is known world wide to have to shittiest police force there is.

Seriously, we have a sort of police light (with 0,0% sugar) that dont carry weapons, cant detain you and only write tickets for parking and cycling on place you shouldnt cycle and even those clowns recieve thrice the amount of training of that of the average US cop.

Recruitingment standards are insanely low, pay isnt anything special, training doesnt exist and yet they have to face some of the biggest challenges due to shitty mental health care, insane amount of guns and a fuck ton of other social problems. American law enforcement is fucking shitty but they also face some of the more thougher problems.

4

u/SaltEfan Jul 12 '24

Iā€™m not a US citizen so I donā€™t have firsthand experience with it. I do know of a few places in my country where the culture within the force is to cover for each other when they abuse their power (with accompanying cases of power abuse) so even if the odds are bad there are certainly places where Iā€™d feel less safe with a cop nearby. Real shame for the vast majority of them whoā€™re genuinely okay people.

2

u/Frizzlebee Jul 13 '24

That covering for each other is standard in-group behaviors and for most groups that's what you want. The problem is law enforcement needs to be held to higher standards, just like any group that's given a great deal of power. Ideally what you'd want is a culture that abhors their good name being sullied far more than "keeping their buddies around". But because the pay sucks, the requirement join are low, and the work is dangerous and insanely broad, it attracts people looking for the wrong things out of the job. It essentially draws bullies who desire power to wield over others and don't understand personal accountability or what service to the country immunity is actually about.

5

u/Primary_Bass_9178 Jul 12 '24

In True Russian roulette, you spin the bullet chamber before each time.

14

u/SaltEfan Jul 12 '24

I know. Chance of getting killed is still the same every time you pull the trigger. My point about a couple of ā€œbad applesā€ in a position of authority making every encounter feel less safe than it should still stands.

2

u/Cool_Holiday_7097 Jul 12 '24

Actually, spinning the chamber increases your odds of not dying, the weight of the bullet usually brings it to the bottom chamber.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 13 '24

Iā€™m not convinced thatā€™s actually true. You wouldnā€™t just spin the cylinder and leave it to settle, youā€™d flick it shut whilst it was still spinning and the cylinder stop would halt it immediately.

1

u/Cool_Holiday_7097 Jul 13 '24

Sure, but it still spends the most time at the bottom due to weight.Ā 

I said increases your odds, not guarantees life

0

u/[deleted] Jul 14 '24

Yeah Iā€™m not convinced. I think this is one for r/askphysics

→ More replies (0)

1

u/Primary_Bass_9178 Jul 14 '24

Sorry, did not mean to turn this into a discussion about Russian roulette , but I think it relates, as in every interaction is a new event influenced by many factors. So itā€™s like spinning a barrel before the interaction - even bad cops are not bad every time, and a good cop can have a bad day.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 13 '24

Thatā€™s an interesting observation. I wonder if it holds true with any other groups?

1

u/SafetySnowman Jul 12 '24

A cop helped my mom by bringing groceries home after being hit by a Tesla. I went out and grabbed the bags and he was fine at first. Then when I thanked him, vision obscured by the sun, I started hearing a clicking noise.

I realized thst he realized I'm trans. It was coming from his belt area on the same side his gun had been. I can't help but think he was considering whether or not to murder me. Shit I just realized I should tell my therapist about thst one. Another reason to fear existing in this hellish state. It's Utah BTW, not Texas. Similar government and police policies but so very different.

But that fear of police is always valid.

1

u/Consistent-Skill6161 Jul 12 '24

I really donā€™t think this ever happened. Cops suck, to be sure. But thereā€™s not a cop who is going to, in front of a woman he just helped, murder her kid simply for being trans and without any other negativity in the interaction. Hyperbole fucks with peopleā€™s ability to be believed when they call out actually shitty things that actually happened.

0

u/SafetySnowman Jul 12 '24

You don't think what happened happened or you don't think my fear would have happened?

The fear was still there. Does it matter if I got shot if I was scared?

Also I did a bad job of describing what happened. My mom was in an electric wheelchair, the chair was damaged but not destroyed and she has a thing against going to the hospital, no insurance has a part in that. But she drove her wheelchair home. It was just me and the cop.

I wasn't scared until I heard the clicking. Over and over and over. Thoughtful. And vocally silent. I couldn't see. I'm still here. I wasn't shot. But the fear was still there.

104

u/JerseyGuy-77 Jul 12 '24

If the good ones don't stop the bad ones (their job).....

57

u/BeefRunnerAd Jul 12 '24

unfortunately you don't get to keep being a good cop if you try to stop the bad ones

2

u/Sartres_Roommate Jul 13 '24

Well ā€œjust following ordersā€ is a reasonable excuse then.

18

u/Fuck-Reddit-2020 Jul 12 '24

This right here. It can't be a few bad apples if they are all perpetuating the system that lets the bad ones keep doing what they are doing.

If it weren't just a few bad apples, so many cops would be in favor of reform that there wouldn't be this much pushback from police unions and officers.

It's a few bad apples and a lot of other apples who either haven't been caught, or haven't had a bad enough day yet.

-22

u/[deleted] Jul 12 '24

33 minutes before your dumbass take, someone had already replied the correct response.
Did you even look at it?

"Police who expose misconduct by fellow officers face retaliation"

So, you just gonna hate all cops? That's gonna not go so well when the good ones start hating you too.

10

u/LocationFun Jul 12 '24

I don't think the hatred of the cops is the point, those above are criticizing the system. They're angry that a bad cop can stop you for no reason, antagonize you, blow your brains out after fabricating some bogus reason, and only get hit with paid leave (thanks to police unions). They're angry that people can and have done so. I went to a police academy summer program, the cops there were genuinely nice folks, but that still doesn't change the fact that someone else could blow my brains out and walk scot-free with them unable to lift a finger. That's the point. The current system allows the bad to run rampant while good people are unable to do anything. That's why I'm against it.

3

u/WOOWOHOOH Jul 12 '24

And who do they face retaliation from? Where are the other good cops to stand by their side? If good cops are this useless they're not actually that good.

1

u/Ditto_D Jul 12 '24

If a good cop is retaliating against innocent citizens for not trusting cops... they weren't good cops.

6

u/shittiestmorph Jul 12 '24

They're all bad.

2

u/SerEmrys Jul 12 '24

If there is 1 good cop, and 100 bad cops, you have 101 bad cops.

3

u/Satanic-Panic27 Jul 12 '24

My interactions with cops dropped drastically after becoming an adult. Had some handcuff me after I got my house broken into and forced to ā€œadmitā€ I made a false call

If I had it my way all three of those cops and the criminal would be dangling by their necks from the tallest building in town. Even the rookie who admitted it was wrong later but did absolutely nothing

We need to cull some of these people to put the rest in check

3

u/starfyredragon Jul 12 '24

In my experience, the way to tell a good cop from a bad cop is the bad cops are the ones that get promoted.

2

u/gwarfums Jul 12 '24

Damn, that feels true. Or works for the Union.

1

u/experimental1212 Jul 12 '24

Easy: all cops are bad. It's the only safe conclusion. The stakes are too high if you assume the opposite and get it wrong.

1

u/Phillyscope Jul 12 '24

Thatā€™s what boomers say about black people

1

u/[deleted] Jul 13 '24

[deleted]

1

u/Phillyscope Jul 13 '24

Eat my asshole you slapdick

1

u/spartandude Jul 12 '24

Ill say it...All Cops Are Bad

1

u/WeirdNo3225 Jul 13 '24

They are all bad. If any were good they would get rid of the bad ones. Theyā€™re just gang members.

1

u/redefinedwoody Jul 13 '24

They should get ar -15s texts cops won't go near those.

52

u/caitlinculp Jul 12 '24

Iā€™ll be damned if this isnā€™t the most accurate description of rural Texas roads Iā€™ve ever read. Bravo.

3

u/Lord_Harkonan Jul 12 '24

Potholes? You just need bigger tyres

2

u/AdEvening142 Jul 12 '24

Oh youā€™ve driven through Valley Mills too I see.

1

u/Ditto_D Jul 12 '24

nope, It is just very common

2

u/AdEvening142 Jul 12 '24

Yeah, I know. I was just pin pointing a specific place where it happens in Texas. A place that I have personally been through many times and have seen Buford pulling folks over who didnā€™t realize the speed limit dropped from 75 to 30 in a half mile.

2

u/katmom1969 Jul 12 '24

Don't forget the speed traps in small towns. Let's is going to fine you big.

2

u/Chancellor_Valorum82 Jul 12 '24

By design. A lot of small town governments throughout the US are reliant on speeding tickets for a large portion of their budget and do what they need to do to make sure as many tickets as possible are administeredĀ 

2

u/Ditto_D Jul 12 '24

it is what I referenced in the last paragraph... just with a bit more nuance lol

2

u/AloofFloofy Jul 12 '24

I've lived in (and driven all over) Texas most of my life and this is insanely accurate.

2

u/giant_spleen_eater Jul 12 '24

Kerrville? Cause thatā€™s like a 1:1 reaction of what happened to me there

1

u/Ditto_D Jul 12 '24

I have lived in a few different texas cities for decades. Trust me this stuff happens all over the place and in relation to how rural the population is. The last bit is a bit of a reference to North East of San Antonio instead of North West, but I can assure you that it these happen all over the state outside of the suburban crawl of major cities.

2

u/militarypuzzle Jul 12 '24

You ever been to deep dark Texas where all the roads are just called CORD and a number? Even Siri hates that stuff

2

u/Ditto_D Jul 12 '24

My grandparents were in a no name town in Bexar County and I went to go stay with them as I started a new job. I drove 5 minutes down a sketchy dark road that TomTom gps was taking me down and it turned into 2 sandy ruts with overgrown grass going down the road between 2 barbwire fences.

It was late and dark af. I eventually just turned around so leatherface didn't have a chance pop out of the grass and cut me to pieces.

Also drove through the oil fields of west Texas and saw the criminal rates they charge for gas out there lol.

2

u/jonusbrotherfan Jul 12 '24

Illegal for cops to force you to wait for a drug dog beyond a reasonable amount of time to perform a traffic stuff unless theyā€™re detaining you btw

3

u/[deleted] Jul 12 '24

Yeah try telling that to Cliff while heā€™s having a bad day tho, Iā€™m not playing the ā€œI know my rightsā€ game with local town PD. I taking the ticket and getting tf thru town

2

u/Ditto_D Jul 12 '24

You miss the part where Humphry doesn't know what a safeword is? You think he gives a shit about you and your rights?

2

u/misterguyyy Jul 12 '24

Gotta love 290 going from Austin to Houston. You have to be vigilant about random 45 - 35mph speed limit changes.

Itā€™s tempting to speed through those one horse towns too because something about them makes you want to get out ASAP.

2

u/lovelivesforever Jul 13 '24

Itā€™s crazy Iā€™m reading these with the accent. Turns out the Texas accent lives rent free in my head. Iā€™m aussie

1

u/gyroisbae Jul 12 '24

Half the time thereā€™s no shoulder and thereā€™s a ditch an inch from the asphalt

1

u/iloveradiohead225 Jul 12 '24
  • cries uncontrollably in third world *

1

u/tillerman35 Jul 12 '24

Yep... yep agree with that... haha drove on one of those once... um, what? ... huh? ... with what now? ... wait- is this still about driving?

1

u/Ditto_D Jul 12 '24

Yes, this is my best description of what it is like to drive outside of the suburban crawl of Texas when you aren't on the highway.

1

u/veebles89 Jul 12 '24

This is so real it hurts. I live an hour away from the nearest town, and about 30 mins of that drive is just dirt road. We don't get rain often, but that usually means you can't go anywhere since the clay turns everything to a slip'n'slide. Once you reach the FM road, if you go too fast, you'll hit a pothole that separates your tires from the rest of your vehicle.

Feels bad, man...

1

u/robisodd Jul 12 '24

For those unaware (Michigan here, I've never heard the term and had to look it up), "FM roads" are "Farm to Market roads", which are secondary connected routes. They're like major highways/freeways but usually just two lanes to connect less-traveled (than highways) routes to smaller (than major cities) towns.

1

u/theloveliestliz Jul 12 '24

As a Texan, this is so fucking accurate

1

u/GanjalfTheGreeeeen Jul 12 '24

šŸ˜‚ Try driving in uk šŸ¤·

1

u/FearsomeFurBall Jul 12 '24

The FM roads, where you see all of the crosses and ā€œRIP Braydenā€ wreaths along side the road.

1

u/InternalShadow Jul 13 '24

Grew up in a county of less than 4k people in Texas. This is accurate

1

u/sixstringsikness Jul 13 '24

This sounda way too specific to not be some personal experience.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 17 '24

Boomhauer, I donā€™t understand a word of what you just said

0

u/CycloneCowboy87 Jul 12 '24

Horrible take, in case anyone couldnā€™t tell after slogging through that last run-on-to-infinity sentence.

Texas roads are some of the best in the country. Itā€™s one of the only states where youā€™ll find 75 mph speed limits off the interstate, including plenty of the FM roads. And theyā€™re very well maintained.

I assure you Iā€™m not some Texas sycophant. I hate the politics here, but my family has been here for a long time and so have I. One of the few things Texans can truly brag about is our road network.

1

u/Ditto_D Jul 12 '24 edited Jul 12 '24

I have literally lived here for decades. Mentioning smooth as silk 75 mph roads was in my original comment lol. My assessment is based on experience. IDK what major suburb you are living in, but I can tell you that once you get past the suburban crawl and off the highway you are in a different ballgame. I am not talking about places within 10 minutes of a walmart. I am talking about places that rely on dollar general and dollar tree for groceries.