Poop Woman gets ticketed for dropping f-bomb in a Walmart - Page 4

**RealSNR** · 08-14-2008, 01:25 AM

Wow. Can we finally say backwoods Texas is a "special" place?

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?se...cal&id=6325920
Mother ticketed for swearing in Wal-Mart

By Laura Whitley

LA MARQUE, TX (KTRK) -- A woman is in trouble for cursing inside a busy store in La Marque. An assistant fire marshal heard her, and wrote her a ticket on the spot.

But investigators say that's not the only reason she ended up with a citation. The incident happened inside the Wal-Mart off I-45, the night before Tropical Storm Edouard hit.

"She should have gotten a ticket. She's lucky she didn't go to jail," said one shopper.

The woman was responding to a recent incident which sent a mother home with a ticket for cursing in public.

The shopper continued, "Because, you're in public. You can't do that."

That's exactly what La Marque's assistant fire marshal, Alfred Decker, tried to tell Kathryn Fridge, 28, when he allegedly overheard her use the 'f-word' in the store last week.

"He said, 'Ma'am, please refrain from using that language. You're not allowed to cuss in public like that,'" explained La Marque Fire Department Chief Todd Zacherl.

Zacherl spoke on Decker's behalf. He said the officer's warning to Fridge was only met with more expletives.

"I think he just originally went to just ask her politely not to use that type of language," Zacherl said. "Things escalated to the point where he had to do something. He couldn't just walk away."

The single mother walked away with a ticket, and concerns, say the chief, about his assistant fire marshal's actions. Zacherl says as far as he can tell, Decker responded appropriately.

"He said he did have to place cuffs on her in the parking lot because he couldn't get her to calm down," Zacherl said.

Cursing in public is certainly not a federal case. But people do get in trouble for it, just usually not at a Wal-Mart.

Zacherl explained, "These are the type of tickets you would find around the Kemah Boardwalk, things like that, or outside of a bar or something."

Most people we spoke with about the incident sided with the officer, but not everyone.

"It depends on what the reason is," said one woman. "She might have had a reason. She could have had a bad day and somebody just touched her wrong."

We made several unsuccessful attempts to contact Fridge. She was ticketed for disorderly conduct. She will either have to pay it, or go before a judge.

Deberg_1990 · 08-14-2008, 09:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RJ

the difference is that some people just don't care.

One of the main problems in our society today is this attitude of "I dont care, I dont give a fuck" (haha, Ironic in this case) and "its not my fault"

Take responsibility for your actions and always be polite, courteous and respectful to others. Why is that so hard for some people to understand???

**Bugeater** · 08-14-2008, 09:22 AM

While I don't condone her actions I hate to see us start going down the slippery slope of legislating morality. IMO what the fire marshall should've done is notify the store management of her behavior, and they could ask her to leave the store. If she refused, then she would be breaking the law and he could take action, and if management didn't care, he could take his business elsewhere.

RJ · 08-14-2008, 09:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoBo

While I don't condone her actions I hate to see us start going down the slippery slope of legislating morality. IMO what the fire marshall should've done is notify the store management of her behavior, and they could ask her to leave the store. If she refused, then she would be breaking the law and he could take action, and if management didn't care, he could take his business elsewhere.

I don't think it's a morality issue as much as a common decency issue. As long as the Fire Marshal isn't out looking to ticket people who curse it's probably not anything to worry about. I imagine it's an isolated incident involving one very rude woman.

DJay23 · 08-14-2008, 09:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoBo

While I don't condone her actions I hate to see us start going down the slippery slope of legislating morality. IMO what the fire marshall should've done is notify the store management of her behavior, and they could ask her to leave the store. If she refused, then she would be breaking the law and he could take action, and if management didn't care, he could take his business elsewhere.

I agree with this completely.

Sounds to me like the Assistant Fire Marshall found himself to be a little too self important in this situation.

**Bugeater** · 08-14-2008, 09:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RJ

I don't think it's a morality issue as much as a common decency issue. As long as the Fire Marshal isn't out looking to ticket people who curse it's probably not anything to worry about. I imagine it's an isolated incident involving one very rude woman.

Fair enough, but it's not really that much easier to define what is decent and what isn't. Sure, we can all agree that walking around naked isn't decent, but after that the line can get a little blurry.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJay23

I agree with this completely.

Sounds to me like the Assistant Fire Marshall found himself to be a little too self important in this situation.

Eh, I commend him for feeling he needed to take some kind of action, I just don't agree with the action he took.

Pitt Gorilla · 08-14-2008, 09:49 AM

I HATE when people curse in public and I certainly don't mind asking someone to stop when my children are present. But a ticket seems a bit much, unless we're going to police all indecent behavior like being ugly, fat, uneducated, etc.

**Nzoner** · 08-14-2008, 09:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJay23

I agree with this completely.

Sounds to me like the Assistant Fire Marshall found himself to be a little too self important in this situation.

Heh,I'm sure,when the extent of his career involves writing tickets for expired extinguishers

RJ · 08-14-2008, 09:59 AM

[QUOTE=GoBo;4914069]Fair enough, but it's not really that much easier to define what is decent and what isn't. Sure, we can all agree that walking around naked isn't decent, but after that the line can get a little blurry.
/QUOTE]

True, but in reading the article it doesn't sound as though the marshal was looking to give her a ticket. Sounds like he was just trying to get her to watch her mouth. If the guy's trying to be the morality police, now that would be another story.

And really, I can't see any reason why it would be necessary for someone to be dropping clearly audible F-bombs at the local Walmart. I get aggravated every time I go in one of those stores but I wait until I get outside to cuss.

Frosty · 08-14-2008, 10:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pitt Gorilla

unless we're going to police all indecent behavior like being ugly, fat, uneducated, etc.

There wouldn't be anyone at all in Wal-Mart if they did that.

**ShortRoundChief** · 08-14-2008, 10:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KCJohnny

I strongly approve of the civic decency of Texans in trying to preserve public decorum.

well **** you

**DaKCMan AP** · 08-14-2008, 10:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RJ

Very well said, I couldn't agree more. Everyone knows it's inconsiderate to use foul language in public, the difference is that some people just don't care.

Being inconsiderate shouldn't result in a ticket/arrest.

Deberg_1990 · 08-14-2008, 10:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaKCMan AP

Being inconsiderate shouldn't result in a ticket/arrest.

From the writeup, its hard to get a fair gauge of just how agitated and upset this women was. Who knows? It does sound like he tried at first to be polite and asked her to stop.

If she became uncontrollable then what should he have done?

Hydrae · 08-14-2008, 10:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

From the writeup, its hard to get a fair gauge of just how agitated and upset this women was. Who knows? It does sound like he tried at first to be polite and asked her to stop.

If she became uncontrollable then what should he have done?

Walk away? If she became uncontrollable after he talked to her then obviously he is causing the situation to escalate (not saying he did anything to cause this to happen, just that she was not being receptive to his attempts to calm her). I agree with the earlier post with the suggestion of going to the management of the store.

I applaud the guy for stepping up and asking her to watch her language. But the idea of it resulting in a citation is over the line IMO.

**DaKCMan AP** · 08-14-2008, 10:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

From the writeup, its hard to get a fair gauge of just how agitated and upset this women was. Who knows? It does sound like he tried at first to be polite and asked her to stop.

If she became uncontrollable then what should he have done?

Uncontrollable how? Cursing more? Screaming? Getting physical? I agree that we don't have enough information.

Garcia Bronco · 08-14-2008, 10:51 AM

You either support free speech or you don't. The amendment is very straight forward and requires little of the ridiculous judicial interpretation that has followed since it was written by James Madison.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

08-14-2008, 01:25 AM
RealSNR Special Teams ACE!!! Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Where the hell is SNR Casino cash: $-1604792	Woman gets ticketed for dropping f-bomb in a Walmart Wow. Can we finally say backwoods Texas is a "special" place? http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?se...cal&id=6325920 Mother ticketed for swearing in Wal-Mart By Laura Whitley LA MARQUE, TX (KTRK) -- A woman is in trouble for cursing inside a busy store in La Marque. An assistant fire marshal heard her, and wrote her a ticket on the spot. But investigators say that's not the only reason she ended up with a citation. The incident happened inside the Wal-Mart off I-45, the night before Tropical Storm Edouard hit. "She should have gotten a ticket. She's lucky she didn't go to jail," said one shopper. The woman was responding to a recent incident which sent a mother home with a ticket for cursing in public. The shopper continued, "Because, you're in public. You can't do that." That's exactly what La Marque's assistant fire marshal, Alfred Decker, tried to tell Kathryn Fridge, 28, when he allegedly overheard her use the 'f-word' in the store last week. "He said, 'Ma'am, please refrain from using that language. You're not allowed to cuss in public like that,'" explained La Marque Fire Department Chief Todd Zacherl. Zacherl spoke on Decker's behalf. He said the officer's warning to Fridge was only met with more expletives. "I think he just originally went to just ask her politely not to use that type of language," Zacherl said. "Things escalated to the point where he had to do something. He couldn't just walk away." The single mother walked away with a ticket, and concerns, say the chief, about his assistant fire marshal's actions. Zacherl says as far as he can tell, Decker responded appropriately. "He said he did have to place cuffs on her in the parking lot because he couldn't get her to calm down," Zacherl said. Cursing in public is certainly not a federal case. But people do get in trouble for it, just usually not at a Wal-Mart. Zacherl explained, "These are the type of tickets you would find around the Kemah Boardwalk, things like that, or outside of a bar or something." Most people we spoke with about the incident sided with the officer, but not everyone. "It depends on what the reason is," said one woman. "She might have had a reason. She could have had a bad day and somebody just touched her wrong." We made several unsuccessful attempts to contact Fridge. She was ticketed for disorderly conduct. She will either have to pay it, or go before a judge.
Posts: 93,473

08-14-2008, 09:22 AM	#47
Bugeater The Maintenance Guy Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Renovated Bugeater Estate Casino cash: $3992680	While I don't condone her actions I hate to see us start going down the slippery slope of legislating morality. IMO what the fire marshall should've done is notify the store management of her behavior, and they could ask her to leave the store. If she refused, then she would be breaking the law and he could take action, and if management didn't care, he could take his business elsewhere.
Posts: 70,546

08-14-2008, 09:49 AM	#51
Pitt Gorilla Banned! Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: NOT Columbia, MO 65201 Casino cash: $-179806	I HATE when people curse in public and I certainly don't mind asking someone to stop when my children are present. But a ticket seems a bit much, unless we're going to police all indecent behavior like being ugly, fat, uneducated, etc. __________________ Your son is a bench warmer because of your weak genetics not because of the coach Norlin Mommsen is disgusting.
Posts: 47,386

08-14-2008, 09:59 AM	#53
RJ Supporter Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: In a shotgun shack Casino cash: $9895202	[QUOTE=GoBo;4914069]Fair enough, but it's not really that much easier to define what is decent and what isn't. Sure, we can all agree that walking around naked isn't decent, but after that the line can get a little blurry. /QUOTE] True, but in reading the article it doesn't sound as though the marshal was looking to give her a ticket. Sounds like he was just trying to get her to watch her mouth. If the guy's trying to be the morality police, now that would be another story. And really, I can't see any reason why it would be necessary for someone to be dropping clearly audible F-bombs at the local Walmart. I get aggravated every time I go in one of those stores but I wait until I get outside to cuss.
Posts: 14,940

08-14-2008, 10:51 AM	#60
Garcia Bronco No Keys, No Problem Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: Denver Casino cash: $1623136	You either support free speech or you don't. The amendment is very straight forward and requires little of the ridiculous judicial interpretation that has followed since it was written by James Madison. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Posts: 33,013