Tuesday, January 14, 2014

The Chewing Gum Effect

A newly outfitted Texas Fish and Game officer
Image from a Blaze article
Have you ever noticed that people seem to get "attitude" when they chew gum?  I can't explain it - they just seem to become more bold and a little bit flippant.  For some reason, just the act of chewing gum can change an entire countenance.  And, in the same manner, so can our clothes.

Think about it.  When we want to work out, we put on tennis shoes and work out clothes.  They make us feel energized and ready to get sweaty.  When we want to hunt, we put on camouflage and a blaze orange hat.  Just the act of putting on our camo puts in the right frame of mind for the hunt.  Every day we dress according to the image we want to project and every day, our clothes bring us closer to our idea of success or distance us from it (if we choose our clothing poorly).

The fuzzier the lines have become between right and wrong, the fuzzier our clothing choices have become.  And now, we are at a societal impasse.  We want to pretend to be upstanding members of society and, at the same time, wear baggy gang-style pants and pull hoodies down over our faces.  We want to espouse the purity and innocence of our little girls while dressing them as miniature prostitutes. We want to be taken seriously in business settings while piercing our faces and tattooing our bodies.  And, as women, we don't want to be treated as a piece of meat while we dress in a manner that does nothing but display us as merchandise.  We can't have it both ways.

As much as we are told "you can't judge a book by it's cover",  that is just not true.  We dress according to how we view ourselves, according to what role we see ourselves in.  And, we judge each other accordingly - right or wrong, we do.  In truth, we tend to act as we dress.  If we dress in a provocative manner, we will behave provocatively.  If we dress in grubby clothes with unkempt hair, we tend to behave lazily.  If we dress in hiking gear, we tend to get outside and get moving.  It's just the nature of the beast.

The same holds true for our men in uniform.  Donning different uniforms have a different effect on your attitude.  If you are in dress blues, you will stand a little taller, holding yourself in a manner worthy of honor.  If you are in your turn-out gear, you will have adrenaline pumping, at the ready to fight that fire.  And if you are in your BDU's (Battle Dress Uniform), you will be pumped, ready to take down the enemy.

Little by little, our nation has been militarizing our police force.  Once, our citizens were served by "Peace Officers",  now we are policed by "Rapid Response Units", "SWAT teams" and other para-military entities.  Gone are the days of slow-talking peace officers, dressed in button-up shirts, nice slacks and cowboy hats with a revolver on their hip.  They have been replaced with black BDU wearing, night-vision enhanced agents carrying deadly force multipliers and subdued badges.  And then we wonder innocently why our cops are so aggressive?  Well go figure!

We have created the world in which we are living.  We are blurring the lines between right and wrong, between good and bad.  We want to dress one way and act another (or pretend to act another).  We want to have our cake and eat it to.  It doesn't work that way!

Just so you know, I am not cop bashing.  I am merely suggesting that we can only expect an escalation of aggression when we treat and arm our police officers as we do our military men going into battle.  They are being trained (and dressed) to engage the enemy.  What made us think that enemy wouldn't be us?

39 comments:

  1. "Rapid Response Units", and "SWAT teams" are specialized police units that are used for situations that require a specialized response (hostages, active shooter, barricaded suspects etc..) so they are equipped and trained accordingly. These units will not come to your house for a noise complaint, look for a missing child or pull you over for a speeding ticket.

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    1. Don't you read the news?

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    2. Seriously, you DO need get some real news for a change. Since you are obviously capable with a computer, please do some Google searching. I suspect you may change your opinion. If not, well...hopefully those rose colored glasses won't come back to bite you.

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    3. Mercy Anonymous at 9:05 PM, what planet do you live on? It is 1938 Germany complete with a Police State.

      Latest example: In October a woman was 'reported' as suicidal. Our local Sheriff showed up on her private property with a team of SWAT and his beloved armored personnel carrier (APC) (compliments of the Feds). She was alone in her house and wanted to be left alone. End of story? SWAT refused to leave. Fifteen AR-15 rounds were fired by the jack-booted, head-to-toe body-armored thugs. Two rounds hit the woman. More rounds by the inept SWAT hit the Sheriff's prize APC.

      Honestly, in today's Police State we cannot imagine calling 911....
      Montana Guy

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    4. Why don't you tell me what you are referring to and I would be happy to look it up. What do google search for?

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    5. @montana guy, What city did this occur in, so I can read about it?

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    6. It happened October 11th in Columbia Falls, Montana.
      Google: SWAT "Michelle Gentry"
      Montana Guy

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    7. Here's some:

      1. SWAT kills 107 yr old man in Pine Bluff, Arkansas

      http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2013/09/08/pine_bluff_arkansas_swat_team_killes_107_year_old_man_in_shootout.html.

      2. SWAT shoots innocent man 22 times

      http://www.sott.net/article/266876-Swat-team-shoots-innocent-man-22-times-in-front-of-his-family-case-settled-in-the-millions

      3. Wrong guy killed when SWAT started his house on fire

      http://www.policestateusa.com/2013/misidentified-man-killed-when-swat-team-started-his-house-on-fire/

      4. 7 yr old girl killed by SWAT

      http://reason.com/blog/2010/05/17/detroit-girl-7-killed-in-swat

      5. 16 yr old killed by SWAT sniper

      http://www.prisonplanet.com/police-state-gone-wild-swat-team-sniper-kills-16yr-old-boy-2.html

      6. 68 yr old grandfather killed by SWAT

      http://www.copblock.org/1591/swat-murders-68-year-old-grandfather/


      ........there are 6 examples for you and I just googled "SWAT kills...". Again you don't really know your ass from a hole in the ground. -A. Davis

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    8. Oh yeah and as for your whole idea that they only come to active shooter, barricaded etc things...think again:

      http://jonathanturley.org/2013/08/16/video-sheriff-deputies-raid-home-to-enforce-a-civil-fine/

      http://reason.com/blog/2011/06/10/obama-food-safety-czar-defends

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    9. @ A-Davis, thanks! you're a really classy guy... Maybe someday a SWAT guy will meet up with you!

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    10. Most of these stories indicate a justified use of force by the SWAT teams or an unfortunate accident... sometimes stuff happens...

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    11. Lord help this anonymous poster...."justified" use...sad but hey there is a fool born every minute lol...just glad I'm not brainwashed. -A. Davis

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    12. How do you know you aren't "brainwashed"?

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  2. The first responder (pun intended) is probably one of the good cops. Of all the ones I have known about 1/2 were good guys and the rest were crooks that happened to wear a blue suit. As the others have stated all you have to do is read the newspaper and you will see where the military dressing has taken the cops. We had one here in Dallas where a skitzo was sitting on a chair in the middle of the street with a knife on the ground. Two cops responded and one shot the man from 20 ft away and he did not have the knife in his hand. He would have gotten away with it except for the neighbors security camera got it all on tape. The cop was fired but I can not remember if he was charged with attempted murder or not, I suspect not. That is where we are now.

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  3. I really want our police to "protect and defend" not bully and throw you to the ground. I do not understand why we allow the bullies and the crazies to remain on the police force.

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  4. Maybe they are disappearing, but the slow-talking, polite cop isn't quite extinct-the ones I've met here for the most part, fall into the Polite and Courteous category. My workplace is a convenient "potty break" location, so a few police stop by every now and then. At my last job, I watched two cops find a completely blitzed homeless guy a place for the night (it was a dreary, cold night) rather than just toss him in jail. Maybe the Andy Taylors are going by the wayside, but there are still some around.

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  5. I'm responding to the first comment @ 9:05...the other two comments after that aren't worth my time.

    You commenter obviously don't know the difference between your ass and a hole in the ground.

    As a Texas, we have seen an uptick in military police training and equipment. Dallas recently got an armored hummer from the Army and I think Houston now has a tank.

    As the wars started winding down more and more police departments are getting MILITARY equipment not "specialized" equipment. Many of these teams are trigger happy and will kill first and ask questions later. Please research to find out the multiple issues arising from SWAT coming to citizens home and it ending with someone in a body bag.

    I read the Blaze article and it doesn't surprise me in the least. You would be surprised to learn the power the college/university police have.

    Because the damn gov't won't due their job and seal up the border down here we have essentially made a national guard out of the local police. The actual National Guard is over in the Middle East guarding their damn borders so we are currently a little short handed....makes sense right?

    The point is once the gov't (or police force) get power they aren't going to give it up and is a militarized police force what we want? -A. Davis

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    1. Hey A- Davis, The police in TX need that kind of stuff, whats your problem with that?

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    2. I agree, I went to texas one time and the people were all nuts. I feel sorry for the police there..

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  6. Yes, I for one would like a more militarized police force. They will be better equipped and trained to deal with more sophisticated threats like gangs, terrorists and the like. I don't want Andy Taylor, I want Judge Dread!

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    1. I agree!! I thinks it Judge "Dredd" tho..

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    2. Dredd was judge,jury, and executioner I think you got your wish bro!

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  7. I wanted to post this on my facebook and it will not let me. Is there a trick to it? Our National Guard is gone so that UN troops can be here... Wonder what that means???

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  8. I tried to post this to my facebook and it wouldn't let me, is there a trick to it? Also our National Guard are gone so that UN troops can be here instead... wonder what that means...

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    1. Kathryn, what are you talking about??

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  9. hmmmm....seems like a different breed if posters showed up

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  10. WOW M4, Eotech,night vision,Surefire helmet light (probably with infrared strobe)hard armor (threat lll or lv) MICH helmet tons of thirty round mags
    The fish and deer and all of the other game must have been VARY BAD

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    1. Fish and game have to deal with meth labs and pot grows. Those people aren't the nicest around, so they need the equipment.

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  11. Enola,

    I want to encourage you to keep posting and letting folks know what's going on. Don't listen to the brainwashed zombies sitting in their urban utopias...they will be the first to go...well at least I can hope so.

    It's sad that so many don't know history and can't see the writing on the wall but oh well that's their loss not mine nor yours. Just keep doing what you're doing and God bless. -A. Davis

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  12. Chewing gum makes a person seem less than dignified. I realize that sounds judgmental, but think of when you've seen people chew gum in public and how they looked.

    How a person dresses indeed affects his or her behavior, as well as affects how people treat him/her. Indeed, dress for the occasion that you are attending, and you as well as everyone around you will feel comfortable.

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  13. Cops are not there to protect you. They are there to keep the boot on your neck,
    that is all.

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    1. Some people need a boot on their neck, especially the guy who stole my truck last year! LOL!!

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    2. What are you afraid of George?

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  14. I'm with A. Davis. How dare these government-loving guys bash Texans? Just wait until Captain Crunch hears about this.
    Montana Guy

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    1. Texas??!! Steers and que....LOL!!!

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  15. Steers and queers...yep that's in Austin, Dallas and oh the mayor of Houston. This reminds my of a song titled, "I don't live in Dallas" by Jarrod Birmingham. Sums up how rural Texans feel towards the cities that are weighing us down. -A. Davis

    Enjoy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoCeuGs7okE

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  16. Amen to that! Im in n. California and we feel the same way about frisco!

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  17. And on to another topic but related to the clothing we wear... I thought I'd mention that in our family, myself and our daughters all wear dresses and skirts (no we aren't Amish). We don't own jeans or slacks or pants. I have to say that our choice of clothing is an oddity in our urban community, but we don't really care. Men, even teenaged boys, treat us much more respectfully then less modestly dressed and acting women and girls. I've walked past a group of cussing, swaggering males (most recently at a bowling alley with our church youth group) and the entire bunch toned it down and even apologize for their language with no prompting from us. And if you are one of those guys, I want you to know that I appreciate it VERY much!

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