09/21/2013   English German

  Edition # 103  
San Francisco, 09-21-2013


Figure [1]: TV personality Stanley Roberts is a stickler for abiding laws.

Angelika Living in a densely populated metropolitan area often requires a lot of patience to get you through the day. Whenever you have a lot of people in a crowded space, there seem to always be a small number of inconsiderate idiots who think they own the place. Apparently, I'm not the only one thinking this way, as the local Kron 4 station here keeps airing a segment called "People Behaving Badly" during the daily 8 PM newscast.

Stanley Roberts is the reporter scouting San Francisco and the surrounding area with his camera man for people who have little respect for local laws or the rules of common courtesy. Often times, he targets conspicuous drivers in Bay Area traffic, like people who take the liberty to illegally park at bus stops or make left turns, although they're well aware that that's not permitted at a particular intersection.

Many quickly send a text message while waiting at a stop light, although that's been illegal in California for quite a while now. That's also a pet peeve of mine that makes my blood pressure go up, as those distracted drivers often don't notice when the light goes green or suddenly accelerate while it's still red.

Figure [2]: "People Behaving Badly" shows a police officer reminding a driver of his infractions.

Another popular topic are dog owners, who don't put their dogs on leash although the signs in conservation areas clearly demand so. The other day, there was a segment on drivers on the new Bay Bridge, who clearly used poor judgement when taking videos with one hand while crossing at a speed of about 55 miles per hour. Some of them even had passengers, which makes you wonder what goes on in people's heads at times. The reporter often teams up with local police, and the camera team then follows them around when officers are writing tickets and hear breathtaking excuses.

Stanley Roberts exclusively targets people who do things that are clearly illegal, but no American finds overly offensive, according to unwritten California laws. But behind closed doors, it seems that people do take issue after all, which makes "People Behaving Badly" such a success, because Stanley Roberts seems to be the only righteous person who points out the culprits.

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