LA's Finest - Taking Care of Business - Personal Business
I was standing in a long line at the ATM on the parking lot side of the Sunset & Vine WaMu when I noticed an LAPD car circle around the parking lot and then pull up to the red zone just to the right of the access ramp. The driver left the car running, got out and came and stood in the painfully-slow-and-not-moving-very-fast line.
We had time to chat. Lots of time to chat.
I broke the silence and suggested gently that there are some that might suggest that leaving a vehicle idling is a waste of fuel in addition to having a significant negative impact on our environment. He smiled as if I had just said something mildly amusing.
I rephrased my comment, this time asking him if he would consider the negative impact of his behavior and simply turn the idling vehicle off while he waited in line with the rest of us. Again, he smiled and looked at me as if I was trying to entertain him.
I clarified, "No really, that fuel is paid for with our money, you're simply wasting our resources and it's our neighborhood and you're treating it with contempt. Please, turn off you engine if you're going to take the vehicle out of service while you run personal errands with your partner sitting shotgun."
He explained that it isn't his money, it doesn't matter because everyone does it, look around, cars everywhere!
Who can argue with logic like that? Not I!
I asked his partner if it was necessary to leave their vehicle running while sitting idle in a parking lot.
He explained that if they got a call and they had to go "lights and siren" and the car didn't start, what would they do? Besides, they were very busy and they needed to keep the car running so they could stay up on the calls.
I asked why, if they were so busy, his partner had just picked the longest line at the worst possible time of the day to take care of personal business while on duty.
All I heard were crickets. Crickets and the exhaust. Crickets coughing.