Some friends and I went on a bike ride to a park and stopped
to rest. As we were chatting, we heard a rustling in the bushes and suddenly,
from our right, two park rangers emerged and a few moments later a ranger from
our left. They were in full action-mode and we probably made their night—thinking
there were prowlers about. We exchanged cordial greetings, but, unfortunately
for them, we were just having a couple of alcoholic beverages—not enough to
impair our operation of said spoke-based transportation, but enough to give our
insides an invigorating rubdown. Or as the lead ranger said, “There’s no need
to hide your beverages; you guys are just having what is classified as a ‘picnic’.”
They wandered off and we resumed our chat and eventually our ride.
What’s interesting is that Slate Magazine has a new crime
blog. On it, they discuss “consensual” police encounters. Based on the article's
advice, we should have probably said, “No, officers, we are not talking to you”,
but it didn’t seem necessary since we weren’t doing anything illegal and they
seemed like guys just doing their jobs on a really cold night. It’s an
interesting Catch-22 though. Do you talk like a normal human and potentially
get entrapped or do you refuse to participate and raise suspicions that could
derail your night?
The articles: