Work continues on The Hobo Heretic Handbook.
Here's a snippet on item number two from the Hobo Creed, ratified 1889,
and my take on it.
- When in town, always respect the local law and officials, and try to be a gentleman at all times.
It was Too Short that said “Even though some people give you no respect, be intelligent when you put ‘em in check ‘cause when you’re ignorant you get treated that way and when they put you in jail you’ll have nothing to say.”
Am I absolutely legal in every situation I place myself in? No, but neither were the hobos who were illegally hopping trains, so this admonition to the respect and rule of law needs to be considered in light of that rather glaringly large caveat.
Given the vagaries in the law on living in an occupied vehicle as well as potential parking related offenses, there’s always the possibility I will be confronted by law enforcement. It’s actually not so much a possibility as a probability, as I’ve had the experience of officer-induced confrontations several times over the past couple years. I’ve developed an individualized strategy for dealing with these confrontations that I may expound upon later, but the general rule of respect when dealing with the law and the cops will curry more favor for you than acting a fool, or in my case a cantankerous old bastard.
It’s a challenge to contain the cantankerous old bastard in me when the cops wake me up in the middle of the night to make sure I’m not out raping and pillaging the village, but that is rewarded in spades watching the cops bemused expression when I respond in my usual bright and cheery demeanor…...at three a.m….with a flashlight burning holes in my retinas...in an otherwise empty parking lot large enough to accommodate the populations of most of the towns in middle America. Begs the question of exactly how much protection hardened concrete parking lots really need to feel safe at night, but I digress.