Beware! The language police may be lurking around the corner

[DogPoundPup]

As Tropical Storm Edouard closed in on the Texas Gulf Coast last week, a storm of a different kind was brewing inside the sporting goods section of a Wal-Mart store in La Marque. It started with the F-word.

And now a 28-year-old single mother must go to court if she wants to fight a ticket for using profanity.

On Aug. 4, as local residents prepared for deteriorating weather conditions, Kathryn "Kristi" Fridge made a last-minute stop at the Wal-Mart at FM 1764 and Interstate 45 with her mother and 2-year-old daughter.

Finding the batteries shelf bare, she expressed her displeasure and disbelief to her mother.

"I was like, 'Dang.' I looked at my mom and said, 'They're all ----ing gone," Fridge recalled.

Suddenly, Capt. Alfred Decker, the La Marque assistant fire marshal, appeared from around the corner, dressed in a fire department uniform.

"He said, 'You need to watch your mouth,' " Fridge said.

Perplexed by who the man was — his badge said "fire department" — Fridge offered a scant apology.

La Marque Fire Chief Todd Zacherl said Fridge made such a scene in the Wal-Mart that night, disrupting the peace, that Decker had no choice but to act.

"She cussed him, she cussed everybody. By now, we have a huge group of people looking," Zacherl said.

Fridge emphatically denied that, saying while she did curse in casual conversation with her mother, she never cursed at Decker, even during their confrontation. Her mother agreed.

"She never got nasty with him, she never cussed at him," said Fridge's mother, Kathryn Rice of Santa Fe.

Decker ordered Fridge to come out to his car because that's where his citation book was stored, Zacherl said. Fridge eventually complied, but admits she used the offending word again when she turned to a crowd of onlookers while being led outside and yelled, "Can you believe this? He's ----ing arresting me for saying ----!"

"When I got outside, I saw he was a fire marshal — I saw his car. I said, 'You're not even a cop!' He said, 'I can do this,' " Fridge said.

Decker asked for her name, and Fridge said she began to spell it out verbally and in sign language, which angered him. As their confrontation continued, he handcuffed her.

"I was like, 'Oh, OK. Sorry?' " she said.

Fridge walked away, but said the man ordered her to come back. She then protested, telling him she was having a private conversation with her mother that was none of his business. When the man ordered her to come to him and she refused, she said he pulled out his handcuffs.
Click here to read the rest of the fucking story... http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5942630.html

[nc4bo]

1. too much power going to his big fat head.

[Canuckistanian]

2. Firefighters can give out tickets for swearing?

This is unbelievable.

[annabanana]

3. Sounds to me like he was evesdropping on a private conversation.

Decker, Alfred
Title: Assistant Fire Marshal/Captain, La Marque Fire Marshals Office
Address: 1111 Bayou Road La Marque, Texas 77568
Office Phone: [phone] Fax: [phone]
Email: [email protected]

[nc4bo]

5. ...and may the letter campaign begin. This clown deserves it. nt

[nc4bo]

17. well I sent my letter....keywords: fascist, ego, police state, big swinging ego, taxpayer dollars

I feel better but will get prepared to have my name on a terror watch list, just in case.

[Bobbieo]

6. Maybe we should moderate our language in public - me included.

I swore in front of a police officer the other day when I was getting
my passport card. Luckily, he just looked at me for a second and passed me though the inspection station.

[isentropic]

8. What's a passport card?

...?

[Bobbieo]

11. I do believe a passport card can get you in a foreign country by boat or car but not by air.

I live in a border community and needed one to go into Mexico to see my dentist. BTW they are only 45$.

[isentropic]

14. I'm embarrassed...I had never heard of them before.

:cry:
http://travel.state.gov/passport/ppt_card/ppt_card_3926.html

[Bobbieo]

19. If you are applying for one, use the form from the US post office. I

spent hours looking for and typing out 2 forms from the Internet one for me and one for my son from teh US State Dept - also took my form from the PO. The one from the PO was the only one that was accepted!!!

[isentropic]

7. Just sent him an email of 2 words. The second was 'you'.

:D

[mrreowwr_kittty]

4. Fuck you Fire Marshal Decker.

Fascist fuck. :grr:

[nc4bo]

9. From 1 fire marshall to the other....

Fook you.

[HowHasItComeToThis]

10. LOOK AT THIS JOKE OF A "TOWN"

Harrold in north Texas
http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=34.081141,-99.03187&z=14&t=h&hl=en

[isentropic]

12. Uh, that's interesting but what does it have to do with this story?

??

[goddess40]

13. She should get at ticket for shopping at Wal-mart

Hate America shop at Wal-mart and watch America disappear

[isentropic]

18. I see a lot of those kinds of posts here and it really pisses me off.

I live in a small town with a Walmart that's the only grocery store inside a 35 mile circle (and employs about ten percent of the town.)

Apparently there are some highly mobile DUers with an unlimited supply of free gas who think I should make a 70 mile roundtrip to buy
a couple bags of groceries and don't care much about people's jobs.

on edit...I agree that guy was an asshole. If he pulled that around here somebody would follow him out to the parking lot and knock the shit outta him.

[Bobbieo]

20. My Wal-Mart is 8.10ths of a mile from my carporte. Why would I shop

anywhere else with my food stamps?

[isentropic]

22. I guess that would depend on whether you have a Forde in your porte.

:D

[goddess40]

24. Did Wal-mart chase your other business's out of town?

You're in a no win situation, but most people have a choice.

[Fuzz]

15. Asshole with a huge ego right there.

[XanaDUer]

16. WTF?

Glad to see the comments on that page seem to show some sanity...okay, not nice to drop the F-bomb in front of kids, but this guy went waaay over the top...

[tannybogus]

21. Fire marshalls can be the worst.

Of all the people I ever had to deal with in retail, most of the fire marshalls were pricks.

I don't know why. No matter what kind of retail or what state. They were awful!:spank:

[Edweird]

23. Fuck the (language) police!

[TexasObserver]

25. another jerk from Jerkwater USA who doesn't understand the fucking constitution

La Marque is a shithole, on flat ground, next to a bunch of stinking oil refineries on the Houston Ship Channel. Its sister city is Texas City, also a major turd museum.

[Bozita]

26. Sounds like a fireman from "Fahrenheit 451"

[madeline_con]

27. Contact info....

http://www.firedepartments.net/contact.html

City of La Marque site....

http://www.ci.la-marque.tx.us/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=12&Itemid=37

[Iggo]

28. self delete...redundant (n/t)