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  • #16
    Re: Drinking on the beach

    Urgh! I have sooo many feelings about this whole thing, and responses to some of you guys' stories, so I will start like this....

    I think that it is my American born right to have a picnic on the beach and drink beer. As long as I'm not being obnoxious. Period.

    Kalalau - Yes!! I too used to drink on the beach at San Diego!! And I signed the petition to "ban the ban". I could write a soliloquy about why banning booze on SD beaches is misguided!

    Alohakine - this is my first Hawaii tickert, and framing it is not out of the question.

    Tattratt - yes! the cop seemed irked. He even asked me if I had any dogs at the beach,. probably wanted to write a ticket for that too. Then, having filled his 'dog' quota, he could've gone to Mc Donalds and taken it easy!

    Myopicjoe and Tutusue - you guys bring up the most insightful points of view. I will have to think more on those...

    Salmoned - I shamelessly gave up the evidence when the cop asked for my coozie. Thank goodness he didn't search my person...

    PS - On my way out of the park I saw six guys, obviously drunk, hanging out around a cooler under a tree. They all had red plastic cups. Did they get tickets? I bet not!
    ~ This is the strangest life I've ever known ~

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    • #17
      Re: Drinking on the beach

      Originally posted by turtlegirl View Post
      I shamelessly gave up the evidence when the cop asked for my coozie.
      And that is clearly and without any doubt The Best Line Of The Week Month Year.

      (Sorry about your ticket, though.)
      .
      .

      That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

      Comment


      • #18
        I live in Taiwan. You can drink anywhere. Anytime. You can even drink in a motor vehicle as long as the driver is or has not been drinking. I'm not joking. You can drink anywhere.

        America, Land of the FEE and home of the SLAVE.

        In a "FREE" country, one should be allowed to be or do what they want as long as it does not disturb or harm anyone.

        This free county nonsense is a bunch of hype. I pay for my food, I pay for my house, etc. etc. why do I have to pay taxes/fines to a bunch of pigs that start wars and builds my own prison with my own money?

        Drinking on the beach is not a crime. I don't drink. But, I would never infringe on another persons lifestyle..never.

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        • #19
          Re: Drinking on the beach

          You can never drink beer on the beach. You can only rent it.

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          • #20
            Re: Drinking on the beach

            Originally posted by tutusue View Post
            The only thing I can think of, turtlegirl, is that going to court is, as you put it, wasting your time and the judge's. Maybe that's the point. Having to get ready, drive to court and wait around until your case is called might act as a future deterrent. For a lot of folks that also means taking time off of work and possibly being docked for that time. The judge will already be there and on the clock. That's his job. Slipping a check in the mail is kinda easy, I think. Maybe too easy. Why should paying a fine for a citation (a law was broken!) be easy? I have no experience with this type of thing so I can't say for sure.
            *cough* *cough*

            Just kidding! Of course I believe you, tutusue. Seriously, though, I think you hit the nail on the head. A little birdie’s nightmare from hell is traffic court. I won’t say what the birdie did, but it had nothing to do with any moving violation. That didn’t seem to matter. The mynah bird still had to wake up at the crack of dawn, fight traffic (luckily the birdie had both a car and moped at that time, avoiding any additional “infractions” )

            Then hurry up and wait. And I do mean wait... If the judge is late and your last name doesn’t start with A, B or C... prepare to sit there for a lo—ong @ss time. If you had something to do later that morning, fughettaboutit. The judge might advise you to see a “public defender.” That’s an appointment they advise you to make the instant your hearing is over, as there is a backlog at the PD’s office. Don’t think you can just make a phone call for that. They require you to go down to the office (which is not downtown so add more driving, mopedding or catching the bus to the agenda) and fill out paperwork proving that you don’t make enough money to pay for your own lawyer. Luckily, the bird was a full-time student at the time, so somehow, the size of winged-critter’s paycheck no longer mattered. After meeting with a public defender, realize that the attorney representing you in court will likely not be the same one you met with at the office. So be prepared for that. Hopefully, the cop doesn’t show up in court. In fact, they rarely do.

            I can imagine if this is what the feathery creature had to go through for traffic citation(s) that weren’t even moving violation(s), openly flaunting a beer can with cigarette dust on the beach can’t be that far off. Then again, I’m not an attorney. I’m just repeating what a little birdie told me.

            My advice is to use the “old Little League daddy ballpark trick” next time (and I am just selected a random name for this trick ). Forget the coolie. Carefully and cleanly cut the top and bottom off an old aluminum Coke can. Insert beer can into hollowed out sleeve. Or...buy the premade version. Drink responsibly, and if you see a cop, don’t flip him the bird.

            We can’t be so fixated on our desire to preserve the rights of ordinary Americans.

            — U.S. President Bill Clinton
            USA TODAY, page 2A
            11 March 1993

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            • #21
              Re: Drinking on the beach

              Aloha kakahiaka. Just back from the morningly holo down to the uapo at the kahakai. The police have cordoned off the entire beach parking lot, all of it, they have a riot van, another van, a squad car, and a tent for processing arrestees set up. Freedom isn't free...(get it?) Yet it fits. If you are not even free to toast your country's freedom with a frosty one on a national holiday, there isn't anything to toast, is there? I am confident that the American people will again willingly submit to the overwhelming power of authority as they always do. There is a web cam you can check out right across the street from the beach, google Ocean Beach web cam and you will find it. You can control the cam so you can check the crowd, the surf, the pier, or the processing of arrestees.

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              • #22
                Re: Drinking on the beach

                Originally posted by turtlegirl View Post
                I got a ticket for drinking on the beach yesterday.
                Are you feeling lectured enough yet? Geez guys, maybe lighten up a little. It's not as if she was plinking away at the sand crabs with her Glock while shotgunning from the keg.

                Originally posted by turtlegirl View Post
                Seems to me that the courts could be doing this a little differently, say, by allowing me to mail in a fine. I mean, the cop caught me red-handed. I'm not going to lie, or cry, or protest to the judge, so it doesn't make sense for me to have to go to the courthouse.
                Anybody have any advice or experience with this?
                Is there anything on the fine print of the ticket, maybe the back page, about the court summons? The reason I ask is because in 1993 I accumulated four traffic tickets in five minutes (long story) and was given a similar summons. I didn't have to go to court because there was something in the paperwork I was given that included the option to pay the penalties without having to show up.

                It might be worth going through the court's website to see if there's additional info.

                As Joe has pointed out, odds are that the judge is going to be as grumpy about the police officer volunteering their court time as you are. They'll be looking for any excuse to lash out, and they get a lot of practice.
                Youth may be wasted on the young, but retirement is wasted on the old.
                Live like you're dying, invest like you're immortal.
                We grow old if we stop playing, but it's never too late to have a happy childhood.
                Forget about who you were-- discover who you are.

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                • #23
                  Re: Drinking on the beach

                  Originally posted by Nords View Post
                  Are you feeling lectured enough yet? Geez guys, maybe lighten up a little.
                  LOL. Yeah I entered parenting mode. Practicing for when my daughters grow up I guess Lesson learned: lecturing your girls too much just makes them run into the arms of boys who tell them what they want to hear.

                  TG sounds like a responsible drinker, and the only thing she did "wrong" was using a beer can as an ashtray in public. If we assume the cop was a decent guy, then he was "forced" to confront TG due to the public display of a beer can. If he was just a bully, then she made a safer target than a bunch of local guys. Since we weren't there to watch their interaction, we can't say whether the cop was being a total punk, or whether TG (or someone she was with) accidentally used body language / phrasing which doesn't sit well with local cops.

                  Maybe with a few beers in her, TG looked like one of these guys!
                  "By concealing your desires, you may trick people into being cruel about the wrong thing." --Steven Aylett, Fain the Sorcerer
                  "You gotta get me to the tall corn." --David Mamet, Spartan
                  "
                  Amateurs talk technology, professionals talk conditions." --(unknown)

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                  • #24
                    Re: Drinking on the beach

                    Originally posted by AlohaKine View Post
                    Is long as you are otherwise behaving yourself, they'll never suspect.
                    That's the reason these laws exist. There's nothing basically wrong with people drinking on the beach or in parks. Kicking back, enjoying the day with a cold one or a glass of wine. But it's the idiots who start acting stupid and starting fights or annoying others, who force the creation of these laws.

                    Speaking of annoying, cops should be allowed to draw their weapons and shoot up the stereo systems of people who drive around with over-amped audio systems cranked up to the max.

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                    • #25
                      Re: Drinking on the beach

                      Originally posted by MyopicJoe View Post
                      [...]
                      Maybe with a few beers in her, TG looked like one of these guys!
                      Not even with a case of beer in her!!! TG is gorgeous. Really. I'm actually kinda surprised the cop didn't target her just to meet her...then give her a warning instead of a ticket.
                      Originally posted by Composite 2992 View Post
                      That's the reason these laws exist. There's nothing basically wrong with people drinking on the beach or in parks. Kicking back, enjoying the day with a cold one or a glass of wine. But it's the idiots who start acting stupid and starting fights or annoying others, who force the creation of these laws.[...]
                      BINGO!

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                      • #26
                        Re: Drinking on the beach

                        Originally posted by Composite 2992 View Post
                        Speaking of annoying, cops should be allowed to draw their weapons and shoot up the stereo systems of people who drive around with over-amped audio systems cranked up to the max.
                        Only at nights. That also includes noisy pets.

                        Bring it on, PETA and Humane Society!!!!
                        Beijing 8-08-08 to 8-24-08

                        Tiananmen Square 4-15-89 to 6-04-89

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                        • #27
                          Re: Drinking on the beach

                          Big green insulated coffee mug with a screw on top. Holds two beers, and keeps them cold.

                          Nosy body, do gooders drive me crazy. Hawaii is overrun with them. They represent a portion of the Politics of NO.
                          FutureNewsNetwork.com
                          Energy answers are already here.

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                          • #28
                            Re: Drinking on the beach

                            A friend used to carefully cut apart soda and juice cans, then wrap them around as "skins" to make beer cans look like something else.

                            Nowadays beer cans have different dimensions from Diet Coke and Hawaiian Sun cans.

                            Wine can be decanted from a thermos. It would look like you're drinking coffee.

                            Or do the opposite: Put tea into a bottle of Crown Royal and swig it directly from the bottle.

                            Comment


                            • #29
                              Re: Drinking on the beach

                              Originally posted by Ron Whitfield View Post

                              Drinking in public is a no-brainer no no. Obviscating it with a bag or whatevers is playing Russian roulette.
                              i think you meant "obfuscate," not "obviscate;" though "obfuscate" means "to confuse" not "to conceal." maybe "esconcing it in a bag" would have been better?

                              sorry. english geek. *points to self*

                              Originally posted by turtlegirl View Post
                              The beer can I was drinking from was camouflaged in a coozie.

                              The beer can I was using for an ashtray was in plain view right next to my chair. Oops. (hey, at least I'm a responsible, non-littering smoker)

                              The courthouse website offers no alternative solutions, just seems that I have to go to court. Which is wasting both my time and the judge's, since I'm not going to contest my ticket. It doesn't seem logical to me!

                              I also asked the cop (very respectfully, of course) that he not write me the ticket. That didn't work.

                              What happens when tourists get tickets? Do they have to fly back to appear in court?
                              Originally posted by salmoned View Post
                              Well, if an officer cannot clearly identify your beverage/container (or ashtray) as holding or designed to hold alcohol, he cannot presume you are or have been drinking an alcoholic beverage. Nor can he search your person or possessions without probable cause of a violation (or permission, of course). I notice the Waikiki Neighborhood Board meeting showed no 'warnings' were issued for drinking on the beach last month, mostly citations and a few arrests.
                              the only law i could find re drinking in parks is not a hawaii state law but a honolulu ordinance at this link.

                              Sec. 40-1.2 Prohibition in public areas--Exceptions.
                              (a) No person shall possess, other than in a container in the manufacturer’s sealed condition, intoxicating liquor on any street or sidewalk, or in any public park, public playground, public school ground, public off-street parking area or any building located thereon.
                              i couldn't find any indication as to what the fine for this is.

                              really, turtlegirl, you should have refused to disenrobe your beer. when we drink in public parks, whenever possible, we keep the alcohol-carrying cooler in the truckbed or the car, closed up. cops could ask for us to open the vehicle & cooler for inspection, but we'd be well within our rights to say no.

                              drinking in a public park, as long as it is done without being obnoxious, as you say, could be considered an american tradition, but it's not an american right (remember prohibition?) what is definitely an american right is for you to say no when an officer asks to search your person, which is essentially what he was doing when he asked you to remove the coolie from your beer.

                              refer to this handy dandy reminder of your rights from the aclu.

                              p.s. my guess is not only was that cop annoyed bcs he himself couldn't have a beer, he was probably annoyed bcs citing turtlegirl is the only way he could get close to such a pretty girl and make all macho. can we say...making up for shortcomings?
                              superbia (pride), avaritia (greed), luxuria (lust), invidia (envy), gula (gluttony), ira (wrath) & acedia (sloth)--the seven deadly sins.

                              "when you wake up in the morning, tell yourself: the people i deal with today will be meddling, ungrateful, arrogant, dishonest, jealous, and surly..."--meditations, marcus aurelius (make sure you read the rest of the passage, ya lazy wankers!)

                              nothing humiliates like the truth.--me, in conversation w/mixedplatebroker re 3rd party, 2009-11-11, 1213

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                              • #30
                                Re: Drinking on the beach

                                Can you tell by sight if it's Beer, Mountain Dew, Tea, Apple Juice or Someone's Drug Test?

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