We love to watch the show Cops. There I said it. I know that it is not fashionable, but they have been on the air for 20 years so I know that I am not the only one. My sisters are mortified that I watch it, but all the makers of Cops do is walk around with a camera and follow the police. The show is an unvarnished view of the human condition. No editorializing, no announcer with a dramatic voice, no instant replay, and no script - just a camera following the police. Many excellent Cops spoofs have been made over the years, including an X-Files episode which was pure genius, and a movie called "Drop Dead Gorgeous" which was hysterical. Of course, Reno 911 and the cast of brilliant improve actors are just perfect.
One of the many excellent aspects of Cops is that we the viewers get to see different cities that are all over the country. The different accents and attitudes are great. As a Kansan living in kinder, gentler Seattle, I sometimes have problems with being too plain spoken for the locals. I really enjoy seeing Cops episodes in Kansas because both criminals and cops tend to be pretty straight forward.
Last weekend, Alex and I were watching a new episode of Cops that was filmed in Kansas City. The police were responding to a complaint that someone was shooting a gun in an alley behind a house. In Seattle, this would have resulted in the SWAT team being called, but in KC just two, calm officers responded. They went into the alley and, sure enough, there was a guy with a 9mm pistol who had been trying it out. He wasn't shooting at anyone, he was just an idiot. He claimed to have just bought the gun from some guy and wanted to try it out. I don't know if you have fired a 9mm, but they are not exactly quiet. Most people, even in Kansas, know that one is not supposed to shoot guns inside the city limits. When the officers searched the man they found an enormous bag of weed, so this guy was not exactly a rocket scientist. It seems to me that, if one has a giant bag of weed, one should try to be a little bit low key and not, oh I don't know, fire a really loud gun right behind your neighbor's house. Of course, the police handcuffed the man and one of the officers dispensed a classic bit of Kansas advice:
"When you do stupid stuff, bad things happen - so stop it."
Brilliant. I love it. If you think about it, you can apply that to many aspects of life, not just discharging a firearm when you have a pocket full of weed.
One of the many excellent aspects of Cops is that we the viewers get to see different cities that are all over the country. The different accents and attitudes are great. As a Kansan living in kinder, gentler Seattle, I sometimes have problems with being too plain spoken for the locals. I really enjoy seeing Cops episodes in Kansas because both criminals and cops tend to be pretty straight forward.
Last weekend, Alex and I were watching a new episode of Cops that was filmed in Kansas City. The police were responding to a complaint that someone was shooting a gun in an alley behind a house. In Seattle, this would have resulted in the SWAT team being called, but in KC just two, calm officers responded. They went into the alley and, sure enough, there was a guy with a 9mm pistol who had been trying it out. He wasn't shooting at anyone, he was just an idiot. He claimed to have just bought the gun from some guy and wanted to try it out. I don't know if you have fired a 9mm, but they are not exactly quiet. Most people, even in Kansas, know that one is not supposed to shoot guns inside the city limits. When the officers searched the man they found an enormous bag of weed, so this guy was not exactly a rocket scientist. It seems to me that, if one has a giant bag of weed, one should try to be a little bit low key and not, oh I don't know, fire a really loud gun right behind your neighbor's house. Of course, the police handcuffed the man and one of the officers dispensed a classic bit of Kansas advice:
"When you do stupid stuff, bad things happen - so stop it."
Brilliant. I love it. If you think about it, you can apply that to many aspects of life, not just discharging a firearm when you have a pocket full of weed.
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