Mikey
Psycho Gorilla Dad
Warning: Long post. Short version is that WeedForBrains and friends got caught by the cops after midnight on private property with booze and pot. That's a first. End result? <span style="color: #FF0000">Nothing! </span> If you want the gory details, read on....
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difficult child was out last night after work, not answering his phone as usual. Finally, about 9:30 I get one call from him saying he's with his friend "E", who just got back from Florida. They're over at E's girlfriend's house.
"Will you be home by curfew?"
"Yes, unless I can sleep over at E's". "Okay, you know the drill. In by midnight, and I have to talk to his Mom to know you're where you say you are. And you also need to let me know before that what your plans are".
"Okay Dad. Talk at ya later".
11:30 rolls around, no call from my little weed-whacker. Start calling, nothing but voice mail. Finally, at 12:05 he calls, and I expect he's at E's, and about to put E's mom on the phone.
NOPE! He and a "bunch" of other kids were, at that moment, being herded by the police into an empty field across from the neighborhood pool - where they all decided to go swimming after it closed. difficult child says he'll call back "as soon as the cops are done with him".
wife: "Have you been drinking?" difficult child: "No, just a sip of beer, but I did smoke some weed. They're searching the cars now, and Mom, E said if you told the cops they couldn't use the breathalyzer on me then they can't"...
:rofl:
wife: "Sorry, you'll have to blow into the tube like everyone else if you're asked. If you've only had a "sip", nothing to worry about, right?". difficult child: "Cops are making me get off the phone - I'll call you when they're done with me". wife: "Your dad is on his way over there right now".
After driving around for 20 minutes, I finally find the place. Two cop cars have two other cars trapped in a cul-de-sac in what my brother (a former cop himself) would have called a "felony stop". There's already five or six kids sitting in the grass, in the rain, and another three still in the cars. Cops pull them out one by one to talk to them. I see difficult child, E and his girlfriend, and a bunch of other kids I don't know, including one who looks a little too old to be a "kid"...
Cop walks over and says that there's been drinking and pot smoking going on, in addition to the trespass on the pool grounds after hours. Right now, it looks like everyone will be charged with "Minor in consumption of alchohol". Sir, please stay in your car until we finish processing the scene.
Me: "Yes sir. Thank you for doing your job. I really appreciate it, and support your efforts". Cop looks at me funny, then smiles and walks away. Guess he thought I was the typical rich white suburbanite father there to keep my poor widdle boy out of trouble. SURPRISE!
:devil:
Anyway, it's now pouring down rain, all eight or nine "kids" are now trying to huddle under one raincoat while the cops start searching the cars. It was going to take a while, so I went to the local QT to use the potty and get a green tea. I get back just as the cops are pulling a couple of cases of beer out of the car, putting other stuff into plastic baggies, and loading all the stuff into one of the police cruisers. They then start taking pictures of all the "kids", the cars, and everything else around the scene.
Hate me if you want, but I took perverse pleasure in sitting in my dry, warm van watching the whole thing. Finally, one of the cops walks over to my car. I'm expecting a ticket, summons, or even to hear that he's going juvie. Nope - no booze on the breathalyzer, he wasn't on the property when they showed up, so he's not being charged. I can take him home.
:grrr:
I asked about the pot in the car. "Sir, we're only testing for alchohol. I don't have sufficient justification for a blood draw on anyone to test for THC. You can go now". But then, he asks difficult child to open his eyes - of course, the pupils are so big they look like black marbles. Cop says "you know, one of the signs of pot use is.." and difficult child pipes up "Big pupils? I get those from my mom. Dad, tell him I get them from my mom..."
:grrr: :rofl: :grrr: :rofl:
I get my hopes up, but before I can even respond, the cop simply says "son, you need to pick better friends, because the ones you have are only going to get you in trouble. Go home". It was obvious that the typical cop bias towards hammering drunks but ignoring stoners was in force, so I didn't push it. The only other thing the cop said before we left was that one of the "kids" (the one I said didn't fit with the group) was actually over 21, and admitted to supplying them with booze. I said "Crucify the M__ F___", then took Sir Pots-a-Lot home.
If I'd thought for one minute the cop would have done something, I would have said the whole crew should be tested for pot. But it wasn't happening. And difficult child dodges yet another bullet, and has yet another reason to believe he's bulletproof.
God, how is it that this kid can dodge so many bullets? Whatever Rastafarian Ganja god he's sacrificing to must be mighty powerful, because this is the umpteenth time that he came within an inch of serious consequences for his actions, only to dance away at the last second without a scratch.
Like the other times he's had close calls, wife and I tried to reinforce some kind of lesson he could take from this. And the way he panicked when the cop checked his eyes, I thought that maybe he'd finally realize the dangerous game he's playing.
Guess again. Just got a call from PotMonster at work, wanting to go to E's house to "clean out his car, in case he ever gets stopped". E works at a carwash, and has industrial-strength cleaning stuff at his house. I guess the only lesson difficult child learned was not to carry anything in your car that can get you in trouble.
He even had the gall to ask "am I grounded?" :hammer:
I didn't know what to say, other than "Go to E's, get your car completely cleaned out, then come home". "Why?" "Because we said to." "Am I grounded?" "Yes" "Why?"
:grrr: :grrr: :grrr: :grrr:
I don't even know what to say. He IS grounded, but I expect a fight and probable ODD explosion. In his mind, after all, he didn't get in trouble, the cops let him go, so what's the big deal? In less than twelve hours, he conveniently forgot that (a) he was in a car with a bunch of other teens (and one adult) that were drinking and smoking pot, (b) broke into a pool at midnight for a drunken swim party, and (c) had the gall to try and get me to lie to a cop to cover his skinny buttocks.
Well, I guess I'll put on the asbestos suit and wait for McWeedyBrain to arrive.
Mikey
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difficult child was out last night after work, not answering his phone as usual. Finally, about 9:30 I get one call from him saying he's with his friend "E", who just got back from Florida. They're over at E's girlfriend's house.
"Will you be home by curfew?"
"Yes, unless I can sleep over at E's". "Okay, you know the drill. In by midnight, and I have to talk to his Mom to know you're where you say you are. And you also need to let me know before that what your plans are".
"Okay Dad. Talk at ya later".
11:30 rolls around, no call from my little weed-whacker. Start calling, nothing but voice mail. Finally, at 12:05 he calls, and I expect he's at E's, and about to put E's mom on the phone.
NOPE! He and a "bunch" of other kids were, at that moment, being herded by the police into an empty field across from the neighborhood pool - where they all decided to go swimming after it closed. difficult child says he'll call back "as soon as the cops are done with him".
wife: "Have you been drinking?" difficult child: "No, just a sip of beer, but I did smoke some weed. They're searching the cars now, and Mom, E said if you told the cops they couldn't use the breathalyzer on me then they can't"...
:rofl:
wife: "Sorry, you'll have to blow into the tube like everyone else if you're asked. If you've only had a "sip", nothing to worry about, right?". difficult child: "Cops are making me get off the phone - I'll call you when they're done with me". wife: "Your dad is on his way over there right now".
After driving around for 20 minutes, I finally find the place. Two cop cars have two other cars trapped in a cul-de-sac in what my brother (a former cop himself) would have called a "felony stop". There's already five or six kids sitting in the grass, in the rain, and another three still in the cars. Cops pull them out one by one to talk to them. I see difficult child, E and his girlfriend, and a bunch of other kids I don't know, including one who looks a little too old to be a "kid"...
Cop walks over and says that there's been drinking and pot smoking going on, in addition to the trespass on the pool grounds after hours. Right now, it looks like everyone will be charged with "Minor in consumption of alchohol". Sir, please stay in your car until we finish processing the scene.
Me: "Yes sir. Thank you for doing your job. I really appreciate it, and support your efforts". Cop looks at me funny, then smiles and walks away. Guess he thought I was the typical rich white suburbanite father there to keep my poor widdle boy out of trouble. SURPRISE!
:devil:
Anyway, it's now pouring down rain, all eight or nine "kids" are now trying to huddle under one raincoat while the cops start searching the cars. It was going to take a while, so I went to the local QT to use the potty and get a green tea. I get back just as the cops are pulling a couple of cases of beer out of the car, putting other stuff into plastic baggies, and loading all the stuff into one of the police cruisers. They then start taking pictures of all the "kids", the cars, and everything else around the scene.
Hate me if you want, but I took perverse pleasure in sitting in my dry, warm van watching the whole thing. Finally, one of the cops walks over to my car. I'm expecting a ticket, summons, or even to hear that he's going juvie. Nope - no booze on the breathalyzer, he wasn't on the property when they showed up, so he's not being charged. I can take him home.
:grrr:
I asked about the pot in the car. "Sir, we're only testing for alchohol. I don't have sufficient justification for a blood draw on anyone to test for THC. You can go now". But then, he asks difficult child to open his eyes - of course, the pupils are so big they look like black marbles. Cop says "you know, one of the signs of pot use is.." and difficult child pipes up "Big pupils? I get those from my mom. Dad, tell him I get them from my mom..."
:grrr: :rofl: :grrr: :rofl:
I get my hopes up, but before I can even respond, the cop simply says "son, you need to pick better friends, because the ones you have are only going to get you in trouble. Go home". It was obvious that the typical cop bias towards hammering drunks but ignoring stoners was in force, so I didn't push it. The only other thing the cop said before we left was that one of the "kids" (the one I said didn't fit with the group) was actually over 21, and admitted to supplying them with booze. I said "Crucify the M__ F___", then took Sir Pots-a-Lot home.
If I'd thought for one minute the cop would have done something, I would have said the whole crew should be tested for pot. But it wasn't happening. And difficult child dodges yet another bullet, and has yet another reason to believe he's bulletproof.
God, how is it that this kid can dodge so many bullets? Whatever Rastafarian Ganja god he's sacrificing to must be mighty powerful, because this is the umpteenth time that he came within an inch of serious consequences for his actions, only to dance away at the last second without a scratch.
Like the other times he's had close calls, wife and I tried to reinforce some kind of lesson he could take from this. And the way he panicked when the cop checked his eyes, I thought that maybe he'd finally realize the dangerous game he's playing.
Guess again. Just got a call from PotMonster at work, wanting to go to E's house to "clean out his car, in case he ever gets stopped". E works at a carwash, and has industrial-strength cleaning stuff at his house. I guess the only lesson difficult child learned was not to carry anything in your car that can get you in trouble.
He even had the gall to ask "am I grounded?" :hammer:
I didn't know what to say, other than "Go to E's, get your car completely cleaned out, then come home". "Why?" "Because we said to." "Am I grounded?" "Yes" "Why?"
:grrr: :grrr: :grrr: :grrr:
I don't even know what to say. He IS grounded, but I expect a fight and probable ODD explosion. In his mind, after all, he didn't get in trouble, the cops let him go, so what's the big deal? In less than twelve hours, he conveniently forgot that (a) he was in a car with a bunch of other teens (and one adult) that were drinking and smoking pot, (b) broke into a pool at midnight for a drunken swim party, and (c) had the gall to try and get me to lie to a cop to cover his skinny buttocks.
Well, I guess I'll put on the asbestos suit and wait for McWeedyBrain to arrive.
Mikey