Photo: j.r. mchale/Flickr

I received this email from Chuck Kooshian yesterday, which I thought was the most miserable story of moving through Los Angeles in the rain, narrowly beating Joe Linton’s attempt to deposit a check during a power outage.  Everytime I read or witness one of these LAPD crackdowns or tickets of pedestrians crossing a street against a flashing hand or yellow light, I wonder how often the LAPD tickets someone for starting and completing a left turn after the light turns red, which is far more dangerous for everyone involved.

Anyway, take it away Chuck:

The Shakedown.

The sky over downtown LA was the color of an old tire
weight. I was in town chasing a lead on
a big job. The politicians in Sacramento had passed a law saying every part of
the state had to cut down on driving to prevent climate change. LA wanted to
hire an operative to tell the politicos they needed to rethink that idea,
because it was a death sentence for Southern California.

As the rain let up I took a stroll down 7^th. A
big blonde follow loomed out of the wet shadows asking for a handout, but I
brushed him off. I turned and crossed the street just as the light turned
yellow. I dashed across in time and
headed down Hope Street.

A black and white screeched to the curb and a voice insisted
I hang around for a while. Two gorillas
with guns got out. One went around back
to cut off my escape while the talkative one let me know the score. It was illegal for a pedestrian to cross the
street on a yellow light in the City of Angels. He wrote me up; I could pay on
the internet. They let me go but my attitude had changed. I knew then that the City had cars deep in
its DNA. Pedestrians were viruses that needed to be controlled. I left town that afternoon, wishing LA good
luck with that whole peak oil thing. Maybe they can shake down a few pedestrians for gas money.