This happened to me 10 minutes ago..please read

[happy7117]

Have I got an experience...true story...

10 mintues ago -it was 11:00pm, I we :confused: :o nt outside
to walk down the street to get a soda from the
machine...naturaly nobody was out at this hour-
except for me - i like staying up!

I walked down the street, and noticed a police car passing up along side me coming to a halt...

A cop gets out and asked me what I'm up to--
I stutter as I try to tell him that I'm on my way to get a soda.. he comments that my eyes are red..I
replied in a stuttered fashion "I'm on my way to get a soda"... he keeps asking me if I'm ok...

I'm not sure of the point of this post, but i guess
it's to ask the question:: As I was stuttering at this cop, i wonder if he thought I was drunk??

Or the fact that my eyes were red, he may have thought I was drunk..that's just purely an assumption-
he did not ask if I was drunk- he said my eyes were red....

And the fact I stuttered in front of him
freaked me out-- I was just going to get a soda--

Do you think he had a right to stop and question
me???

Or do you think he should have ignored me and continued on up the street...??

I have had very minimal encouters with policeman-
for one I'm scared of breaking the law naturaly!!
And 2, cops think that people who have slurred speech and stutter are drunk....

I was stuttering in front of this cop--I'm surprised he did not take me to the police station or give me a
sobriety test- or breathalizer.. which I would have passed perfectly-- because I don't drink....

And harassment?? Does anyone else think this cop
was harrassing me???

I told him as I was walkng away-- "thi-thi-thi
-this is harrasment"- i said it sort of unhappily- because I did not like being stopped knowing I did not do anything wrong..

Cops our are friends, but when stutterers
have to face them-- the fear of authority
figures takes on a whole new meaning!!

[Vermillion]

naturaly nobody was out at this hour-
except for me - i like staying up!


There you go.

Its the cop's job to stop people and question them at night.

It's not like the cop saw you and thought "hey look a stutterer, time to harass him!"

because
a stuttering person has no right to be put in a situation like this...or anyone with a speech problem at that matter..


umm why not

[happy7117]

There you go.

Its the cop's job to stop people and question them at night.

It's not like the cop saw you and thought "hey look a stutterer, time to harass him!




umm why not

I thought stuttering increases if a stutterer
is questioned by an authority figure because it
makes the stutterer nervous..and that's not
pleasent!!

[dave]

Have you considered wearing a big sign that says "don't talk to me, I stutter." The only way anyone can tell a stutterer from a non stutterer is when they speak, not how the look. And the sign would accomplish that.

He was not harrassing you. It would suck if you were drinking,you get breathalized, and you have explain your case infront of a judge and jury. -which is the number 1 reason I will never drink and do a whole lot of other stuff.

This one time at church we had a new sunday school teacher. So the special olympics where the day before and she asked me if I was in them. She was not joking or making fun. She was serious. Although, I don't know what that had to do with you getting stopped by a cop.

[happy7117]

Have you considered wearing a big sign that says "don't talk to me, I stutter." The only way anyone can tell a stutterer from a non stutterer is when they speak, not how the look. And the sign would accomplish that.

He was not harrassing you. It would suck if you were drinking,you get breathalized, and you have explain your case infront of a judge and jury. -which is the number 1 reason I will never drink and do a whole lot of other stuff.

This one time at church we had a new sunday school teacher. So the special olympics where the day before and she asked me if I was in them. She was not joking or making fun. She was serious. Although, I don't know what that had to do with you getting stopped by a cop.

I guess the best thing to do is to realize
that these situations might happen in life,
and we try to handle them the best we can...!!
As for a cop questioning me, I guess I handled it the best I could!! Now it's time to move on!

[CoVeRt ThInKeR]

maybe a little off the point but on different presumptions people can have when you stutter- at school i was forever getting in trouble because teachers used to think i was lying because i was stuttering, for example i was late once because my bus wasn't running and when i tried to explain i stuttered and the teacher thought i was lying.

[johnjohn]

a few months ago, i had TWO beers, then drove to a friends house, i got pulled over for speeding. the cop asked where i was going, i had a major block, i could not get anything to come out of my mouth. he then asked me to step out of the car, he shines the flashlight in my eyes, then tells me to stand on one foot, i was very very nervous, so i could not keep my balance. i ended up spending the night in jail for DUI. If i did not stutter, the officer would not of asked me to step out of the car!!!!!!!!! My car was towed that night, $175 fee. I spent 8 hours in public population, public population is being put in with all types of criminals. And I'm now paying a lawyer thousands of $$$$$$$$. This really sucks!!! This all happened because i stutter. Also when i was in college, I had several people ask if i was on cocaine, when i stuttered. Also one of my ignorant neighbors told some people at the neighborhood pool that she thiks i use cocaine. My friend told me its because i stutter. I now hate going to the pool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[happy7117]

a few months ago, i had TWO beers, then drove to a friends house, i got pulled over for speeding. the cop asked where i was going, i had a major block, i could not get anything to come out of my mouth. he then asked me to step out of the car, he shines the flashlight in my eyes, then tells me to stand on one foot, i was very very nervous, so i could not keep my balance. i ended up spending the night in jail for DUI. If i did not stutter, the officer would not of asked me to step out of the car!!!!!!!!! My car was towed that night, $175 fee. I spent 8 hours in public population, public population is being put in with all types of criminals. And I'm now paying a lawyer thousands of $$$$$$$$. This really sucks!!! This all happened because i stutter. Also when i was in college, I had several people ask if i was on cocaine, when i stuttered. Also one of my ignorant neighbors told some people at the neighborhood pool that she thiks i use cocaine. My friend told me its because i stutter. I now hate going to the pool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's clearly discrimination from the cop!!
A good response could be- I am not drunk
officer, but I have a stutter problem!! That
probably could have eliminated the whole problem!!

And as for the thousands of dollars-- DO NOT PAY IT!!
Tell your lawyer it was descrimination--- the fact you were put in jail is the cops fault-- not yours- you
were discriminated against..and as for your neighbor--
she is the problem!! Not you!!

You should have never went to jail-- and
you might have wanted to get the cops name who
arrested you-- so you coukd let the police know--
as well as your lawyer!!

It pisses me off when cops got the wrong idea of a stutterer!!

They automaticaly assume a stuttering person
is a drunk person!! In other words cops are
discrimniating against stutterers..

A stutterer should never let a cop take action
against them because they stutter!!

Take no crap from no one!!

Good luck!!

My respect for police has gone from
well-respected to frowning upon them!!

[Standingtall]

We all look like normal people, but as soon as we open our mouths. The only experience I can share is when I was in my teenage years. I fainted and my dad called the ambulance. The lady who was looking after me in the ambulance, told me to calm down and take deep breaths. I nearly jumped up and dropped kicked her, because she was sitting there like she was the first to tell me that.

I try real hard not take it personally when I get pulled over or stopped on the side walk. I have many stories to share. For example, I was parked in the parking lot, waiting for my wife to get off work and this lady pulled in looked at me. She walked into the store and got store sercurity to check me out, but as soon as he seen me, he just turned around and started talking to that lady. I sometimes think, just because I am native american, people think we are all bad and if you see one, call the police. I guess I have the look that makes people nervous.

So, Happy, don't take it personal. You walk, you look normal, dress normal and even think normal, as if they are going to see that. Unless, you have an beard and was wearing an dress, or black ninja's outfit. I won't worry about it too much. Like someone wrote on another post, many people are arrogant. The treatment you received may not be fair. I have told officers that I have a speech problem and please show some patiences. I can tell some don't like to be told that, but they do show restraints. I have plenty of experience and if you don't give the officers attitude and honestly answer their questions, they let you go quickly.