Your friend shouldn't have to justify why she had to use her car.

That's the crux of the biscuit right there.

Yeah--I was all "They didn't KNOW why you needed to use your car!! Hell, I go to the airport all the time--for all they know, you were desperately late for a flight out of Dulles, and parking you in would cost you a $70 cab ride...were you supposed to just suck it up and leave THEM a note, and hope they paid it? Yeah RIGHT"

meara, your friend had the right idea. That's dangerous. When I was a nanny, the family I worked for got blocked in when their little boy got sick and they were advised to bring him to the ER. It wasn't call-an-ambulance level of sick, but it wasn't we-can-sit-around-for-an-hour-or-two level either. NOT safe.

Your friend shouldn't have to justify why she had to use her car.

There is also that.

Seska, I think your research is very sexy.

Aww. Thank you. We should name it after a cool but overlooked minor movie star.

"Why shouldn't they have to answer the [immigration status] question if I can't send my child to public with a Bible?"

::boggle::

heh, I used to get blocked in all the time. We had a lot of shoppers, and a lot of apartment bldgs. around, so I would just call the cops if they didn't have their blinkers on. If they did, I would wait for a bit, and after 15 minutes, leave a note, saying something like they'd made me miss a flight or something. After 7 years, I got pretty shameless.

However,my friend Lynne was WAY more proactive. Once, someone left their car running (stupid) and blocking her car in before work. She moved it, and rummaged through their glove box, found their number, and left a message asking for valet money. She was a little...eccentric. I admit, though, I DID watch the alley and had a chuckle when the twenty something chica came out 25 minutes later and wigged. Dude, you're lucky your car was just moved.

"Why shouldn't they have to answer the [immigration status] question if I can't send my child to public with a Bible?"

That doesn't even make sense! Why shouldn't cops be able to pull over random brown people when I can't even walk into a store with an iron pot for a hat!?!

"Why shouldn't they have to answer the [immigration status] question if I can't send my child to public with a Bible?"

Ah yes, the "Dadaism" logical fallacy.

Once a friend of mine borrowed my car. He couldn't find a place to park on his block so he parked in a neighbor's driveway. Later he found that his neighbor had come home and parked in her driveway, parking him in. Then the neighbor had gone to class and didn't return for about three hours. So my friend got mad that his neighbor parked him in. He thought she should not have parked in her own driveway in that situation.

I was rather amazed that he thought that....

I've packed a few more boxes, wrapped up half the glass doors of my bookcases, taken the legs off my table, and cleaned out everything I could reach under my bed. Also brought a chair and a garbage can down to the dumpster.

Still left to pack: a few more boxes of books, one box of desk stuff, probably two boxes of tchotchkes, most of the kitchen stuff (I packed most of the big pieces, but I've still got all the dishes and the smaller pots and pans), the rest of the glass doors, bedding, shoes, bathroom stuff, the last of the clothes, TV, Tivo, DVD player, stereo.

Still to do: bring broken electronics to electronics recycling, cancel cable, cancel phone and internet, set up cable and phone and internet at new apartment, clean microwave, clean out under couch.

I'm sure I'm forgetting stuff in this list. Still, at least it's at a point where I can actually list things now.

And...the kid can bring a Bible to school. No biggie. The school just can't endorse a single religion; i.e. "Look at the Bible little Jimmy brought to school! That's the one truth! Let me tell you why!"

P.S. The whole not having to carry papers things is to protect legal residents who might otherwise be racially profiled.

This is what I want to say to the stupid person.