I was standing on Fifth Avenue one holiday season watching this blond tourist asking a cabbie to "flip her the bird" so she could take a photo of a New York cabbie flipping her the bird. The guy was from Tashkent, maybe, and had this look of "what, bird, what kind of bird, flip, what?" So he shook his head and drove off.
A friend of mine, who I'll call Canadian Ray, got arrested at Chicago's lovely O'Hare airport for flipping off an undercover cop. Ray was dropping his girlfriend off and the guy behind him just starts laying on the horn, so he flips the guy off. Moments later, Canadian Ray found himself headed downtown courtesy of Chicago's finest. Even the cops at the booking desk thought the undercover guy was being a total asshole and felt sorry for him.
@Dr. Nick: What is it with police taking such offense when, as in Dave and Ray's cases, the finger flipper doesn't even know the flippee is a cop? It's not like they are defending their authority and its hard to believe they are trying to enforce civility and good manners.
For some reason this makes me proud to be a Pittsburgher. I can't quite put my finger on the "why" of it, though. The rampant giving-of-the-bird in this fine city? Dave's vigorous defense of his right to give the bird? The fragility of our police's egos?
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Dave, this one's for you.
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