*I have added on more to this post so that it no longer is the original. It is also now too long so I am publishing it anew in two parts. This is the second part. I have not subtracted anything.
Domestic violence.
As recently as the 1950's (I've seen the files) and I believe until much later, you imbibe a little alcohol booze, you get into a little upset with the missus, you give the missus a little love tap which bloodies her mouth and blackens her eye; she--women!--overreacts and runs screaming "He's going to kill me!" through the night to the neighbors who--of course!--call the gendarme; the gendarme responding to the misunderstanding advise Mister and Missus to "sleep it off" and leave. That is how domestic violence was handled back in the day.
Problem became too many gendarme got called back to the same marital residence within an hour or two and found Missus dead.
Now, and for many years, the police--wisely--have precisely the opposite policy. If they get called to an incident of domestic violence somebody will go to jail. Period there.
However, as recently as the 1980's prosecutors offices had to give sensitivity training to staff. They had to get woke. Informed that "sleep it off" did not work, never worked, only emboldened the men; educated on the psychology of the syndrome of domestic violence. Those cases were the BIGGEST pain in the ass because, what do you think happened routinely? Wife comes in to meet with prosecutor, expresses her freshly experienced fear of Husband, swears oaths that she will follow through on the prosecution, prosecutor files charges, and then Wife reneges at time of trial. "He's changed." It is so exasperating for prosecutors. I can remember telling at least one such recalcitrant victim, "DO NOT EVER CALL THE POLICE AGAIN!" and hurling my office phone through the blue haze against the wall. I was not yet woke. Others of my ilk were not yet woke. At one such office training meeting one of undersigned's colleagues responded to a dour instructor that in his considered opinion before he files charges "It should be a really good beating, mon." (From the Islands, my colleague was.)
The laws quickly tightened, as they did with cigarette smoking, underage sex and seat belts (below). Prosecutors got material witness bonds on the women. Threatened to, and in some rare cases did, throw them in jail. The cops would go out and execute subpoenas by physically bringing the women to court.
When does "courtship" become stalking?
One can contemplate one's naval on that question but let it be said that this has always been stalking:
Every breath you take
Every move you make
Every bond you break
Every step you take
I'll be watching you
Every single day
Every word you say
Every game you play
Every night you stay
I'll be watching you
Oh can't you see
You belong to me
My poor heart aches
With every step you take
Which didn't prevent Every Breath You Take Which Won't Be Many More from becoming Number ONE on the Billboard charts in 1983. Sting, or whatever your real name is, you fucking Creep, do not pass go, go directly to jail.
Seat belts. When I get in my car now if I drive feet without first buckling my safety belt and shoulder harness I feel naked. I talked to my son about it and he said he feels the same way. When did cars come equipped with seat belts? I don't know, but it seems in my sentient lifetime. Whenever it was nobody wore them at first. You were a sissy if you wore seat belts. But government data clearly demonstrated that your choices whilst driving were to be a live sissy or a dead macho man. So of course people chose dead macho. The government prodded. I still remember the public service jingle:
Buckle up for safety
Buckle up
Buckle up for safety
Dah-dah-dah-dah dah-had always buckle up
Put your mind at ease, dah-dah-dah dah dah
I remember the message of the jingle.
I don't remember when the front passenger seat became known as the "death seat" but maybe around the time that sunk in drivers, almost always male, would have their wives, gf's, etc. "buckle up." It was chivalrous concern for their safety. It was courtship. It was bondage. Oh can't you see Young Girl, you belong to me.
In the car on drives when I was a kid we would be in the back seat. I'm sorry but I never remember seat belts in the back seat back then. If there were we never wore them. There were misconceptions. The thinking went that backseat passengers didn't need seat belts because they had the cushioned backs of the front seats. Sometimes mum would get on dad, "Why don't you wear your seatbelt?"
"Yeah, dad!" (from the backseat). You know what his answer was? "I have the steering wheel." There
was a misconception that when you ran off the road at 60 mph and struck an oak tree head on that you could protect yourself by stiffening your arms againstthesteeringwheel. Oh my God.
As the highway death statistics climbed and climbed the government abandoned happy jingles for deadly serious commercials.
"Seat belts? They're, they're too confining" (middle aged man).
DUN. (Ominous DUN as transition.)
Picture of middle aged man with arms and legs in cast.
The truth was seat belts did feel too confining. The truth also was your choice clearly was to feel good but confined with your seat belt on or bad and confined in casts in the hospital. But people were so resistant to seat belts that they would cut the mother-fuckers out of their cars!
Then the government started making not wearing seat belts a traffic violation. If I gotta pay a fine...
When did shoulder harnesses come in? Don't remember. But there was a revolt when they did. Those mother-fuckers were rigid at first. You fucking couldn't move. (I think some peoplez got trapped in burning cars and immolated because they couldn't detach themselves from the unfamiliar, confounding things. Which spurred the car companies to "innovate.") The car companies innovated: first, manually operated, non-rigid, motion-sensitive straps that would only lock...when you made a sudden movement. Quickly reach down to the passenger floorboard to grab your bottle of Bud and they locked. Then they took innovation one step too far: automatic shoulder/lap belts. You got in the fucking car and those things, zzzz, moved across your face and body like an ill wind. Which inhibited a farewell kiss from the young girl you were stalking, knocked your fucking glasses off sometimes, messed up your fucking coiffure.
Seeing another revolt (owners detached wires) the car companies innovated once more, going to the now standard manually operated, impact-sensitive, shoulder/lap combo. That has been recent. Last five years or so? All of those factors in combo worked the gestalt switch from insurrection-inspiring
to socially de rigueur. You now feel naked in the car without 'em where once you were gonna storm the Bastille with 'em.
Things changed.
Domestic violence.
As recently as the 1950's (I've seen the files) and I believe until much later, you imbibe a little alcohol booze, you get into a little upset with the missus, you give the missus a little love tap which bloodies her mouth and blackens her eye; she--women!--overreacts and runs screaming "He's going to kill me!" through the night to the neighbors who--of course!--call the gendarme; the gendarme responding to the misunderstanding advise Mister and Missus to "sleep it off" and leave. That is how domestic violence was handled back in the day.
Problem became too many gendarme got called back to the same marital residence within an hour or two and found Missus dead.
Now, and for many years, the police--wisely--have precisely the opposite policy. If they get called to an incident of domestic violence somebody will go to jail. Period there.
However, as recently as the 1980's prosecutors offices had to give sensitivity training to staff. They had to get woke. Informed that "sleep it off" did not work, never worked, only emboldened the men; educated on the psychology of the syndrome of domestic violence. Those cases were the BIGGEST pain in the ass because, what do you think happened routinely? Wife comes in to meet with prosecutor, expresses her freshly experienced fear of Husband, swears oaths that she will follow through on the prosecution, prosecutor files charges, and then Wife reneges at time of trial. "He's changed." It is so exasperating for prosecutors. I can remember telling at least one such recalcitrant victim, "DO NOT EVER CALL THE POLICE AGAIN!" and hurling my office phone through the blue haze against the wall. I was not yet woke. Others of my ilk were not yet woke. At one such office training meeting one of undersigned's colleagues responded to a dour instructor that in his considered opinion before he files charges "It should be a really good beating, mon." (From the Islands, my colleague was.)
The laws quickly tightened, as they did with cigarette smoking, underage sex and seat belts (below). Prosecutors got material witness bonds on the women. Threatened to, and in some rare cases did, throw them in jail. The cops would go out and execute subpoenas by physically bringing the women to court.
When does "courtship" become stalking?
One can contemplate one's naval on that question but let it be said that this has always been stalking:
Every breath you take
Every move you make
Every bond you break
Every step you take
I'll be watching you
Every single day
Every word you say
Every game you play
Every night you stay
I'll be watching you
Oh can't you see
You belong to me
My poor heart aches
With every step you take
Which didn't prevent Every Breath You Take Which Won't Be Many More from becoming Number ONE on the Billboard charts in 1983. Sting, or whatever your real name is, you fucking Creep, do not pass go, go directly to jail.
Seat belts. When I get in my car now if I drive feet without first buckling my safety belt and shoulder harness I feel naked. I talked to my son about it and he said he feels the same way. When did cars come equipped with seat belts? I don't know, but it seems in my sentient lifetime. Whenever it was nobody wore them at first. You were a sissy if you wore seat belts. But government data clearly demonstrated that your choices whilst driving were to be a live sissy or a dead macho man. So of course people chose dead macho. The government prodded. I still remember the public service jingle:
Buckle up for safety
Buckle up
Buckle up for safety
Dah-dah-dah-dah dah-had always buckle up
Put your mind at ease, dah-dah-dah dah dah
I remember the message of the jingle.
I don't remember when the front passenger seat became known as the "death seat" but maybe around the time that sunk in drivers, almost always male, would have their wives, gf's, etc. "buckle up." It was chivalrous concern for their safety. It was courtship. It was bondage. Oh can't you see Young Girl, you belong to me.
In the car on drives when I was a kid we would be in the back seat. I'm sorry but I never remember seat belts in the back seat back then. If there were we never wore them. There were misconceptions. The thinking went that backseat passengers didn't need seat belts because they had the cushioned backs of the front seats. Sometimes mum would get on dad, "Why don't you wear your seatbelt?"
"Yeah, dad!" (from the backseat). You know what his answer was? "I have the steering wheel." There
was a misconception that when you ran off the road at 60 mph and struck an oak tree head on that you could protect yourself by stiffening your arms againstthesteeringwheel. Oh my God.
As the highway death statistics climbed and climbed the government abandoned happy jingles for deadly serious commercials.
"Seat belts? They're, they're too confining" (middle aged man).
DUN. (Ominous DUN as transition.)
Picture of middle aged man with arms and legs in cast.
The truth was seat belts did feel too confining. The truth also was your choice clearly was to feel good but confined with your seat belt on or bad and confined in casts in the hospital. But people were so resistant to seat belts that they would cut the mother-fuckers out of their cars!
Then the government started making not wearing seat belts a traffic violation. If I gotta pay a fine...
When did shoulder harnesses come in? Don't remember. But there was a revolt when they did. Those mother-fuckers were rigid at first. You fucking couldn't move. (I think some peoplez got trapped in burning cars and immolated because they couldn't detach themselves from the unfamiliar, confounding things. Which spurred the car companies to "innovate.") The car companies innovated: first, manually operated, non-rigid, motion-sensitive straps that would only lock...when you made a sudden movement. Quickly reach down to the passenger floorboard to grab your bottle of Bud and they locked. Then they took innovation one step too far: automatic shoulder/lap belts. You got in the fucking car and those things, zzzz, moved across your face and body like an ill wind. Which inhibited a farewell kiss from the young girl you were stalking, knocked your fucking glasses off sometimes, messed up your fucking coiffure.
Seeing another revolt (owners detached wires) the car companies innovated once more, going to the now standard manually operated, impact-sensitive, shoulder/lap combo. That has been recent. Last five years or so? All of those factors in combo worked the gestalt switch from insurrection-inspiring
to socially de rigueur. You now feel naked in the car without 'em where once you were gonna storm the Bastille with 'em.
Things changed.
