I am talking about the unspeakable crime of trying to resell tickets to a Washington Nationals makeup baseball game.
Implicit in this story is an underlying reality: If the writer hadn't complied with everything, this Barney Fife cop could have clubbed him, plopped him in jail or a weekend, charged him with resisting arrest, or done almost anything -- and, of course, the guy would have gotten away with it. There would be no recriminations. In fact, it's interesting that the writer does not identify the cop by name.
I don't know how the Yankees handle ticket scalpers. Over the winter, they tried to knock out StubHub - but apparently, it was not due to a philosophical opposition to scalping: They just wanted the market all to themselves.
(Insert eternal sigh of disillusionment with humankind.)
When you ponder legalized scalping, legalized betting, lotteries everywhere, casinos everywhere, narcotic-level addictive prescription drugs, TV ads for liquor, sanctioned government reading of email, acceptance of wiretapping, and the need to sing "America the Beautiful" in the seventh inning of baseball games, rather than go a full nine without loudly reaffirming our support for the flag - well - what can you say without just sounding like a sore loser?
Face it, folks: We lost. All we can do sometimes is write about it.
you got that right: We lost. They own us and they are intent on squeezing every last nickel out of us while reducing services and insisting that we toe the line without meaningful dissent. The banks, insurance companies, healthcare, sports teams and anybody else that has a direct view to our wallets. Best thing that ever happened to corporate America, 9/11 -- simultaneous with the expansion of the internet into all corners of our lives. Fuck the Steingrubbers and all the other billionaires pretending to be millionaires. Um, yes, I am a little bitter today.
ReplyDeletewhatever. the Constitution is just a dusty old document written by old dead white guys, right? The government should be able to do whatever it wants. It's for our own good. don't you know? Obama loves us! Besides, that dude at the Nats game was probably just trying to avoid paying his fair share in taxes. He needs an IRS audit.
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