Hartford area, CT
 

I was just up in West Hartford, CT for a convention and it's a pretty nice place. Just big enough to be a city but small enough to not be too big and too self-important. Nice folks, though some of them act like they've never seen a black person up close. Overall, everything's pretty nice about that area...except I-84.

I-84 is an adventure in cop-baiting. In the city of Hartford, the speed limit is 50. Understandable, as its going through the center of the city. However, if you DO stay with the speedlimit and do 50...even push it to 55, you will be run down, run over and run off the road. Speed limit is 50, average speed of traffic is around 70. And that's with cops here and there in the mix of traffic and waiting (in)conspicuously on the side of the road.

I know how VA cops are, but that was my first time to CT and I don't know if CT cops will let speeding slide until you reach 'reckless driving' status or if they nail people totally at random or if they keep a special eye on out-of-towners...Me thinks next year, I'll take the train and rent a car once I'm there.

It depends on the time of and day. Weekdays at rush hours and the Friday/Sunday evening hoards, as long as you're not being obviously dangerous, they're cool. To pull someone over on those elevated highways would cause such a snarl, and probably accidents too, it's not worth it. At other times, especially the State Police, it's letter of the law. If it says 50, that does not mean 53. ;)

If you have Ma plates coming south from the Pike, your chances of getting nabbed by the CTSP increases.

If you have Ct plates coming north to the pike, your chances of getting nabbed by the MASP increases.

Some kind of strange LE rivalry going on there.

So what you're saying is that with Penna. plates you were basically fucked coming and going?

I was pulled over quite a bit with a Pa. plate on my economy sports car. Pa only requires a rear tag, and CT and Ma.....they require front and rear. The slangmobile was not one for speeding with my home tag.

When I had the Ma tags though.....on the pike.....I'd regularly travel 75-80 right past the MASP. Many times that would be between 1-3am on a school night too.

Party's over when you cross into Ct with it though. I84 is especially bad.

I was just reading your original comment, you know, just to double check that the last post I left had something relevant to thread starter.

This quote kinda surprises me. That whole area of New England always seemed to welcome blacks. I've worked with more professional blacks in NE than anywhere else.....even Detroit.

It shouldn't. The percentage is still quite, quite low. A friend's daughter by one of his previous wives is from Minnesota or somewhere like that and has no idea how to handle the blacks in Louisiana.

Another friend, a black pentacostal preacher, is from Oaklahoma and had to school his son about the hazards of dating in rural Louisiana.

A look at the census bureau maps is rather illuminating.

Don't worry, you aren't the only one surprised by that. About 15 years ago, I was in Boston and even at around 10 years old, I could feel a flavor of racism...not negative hurtful racism but more along the lines of the Troubleshooter just said...they weren't sure how to handle me and my family and made assumptions from stereotypes seen on TV.

There's one incident in Boston that sticks with me to this day...My mom, dad and I were in the hotel lobby, my mom was checking us out and my dad and I were waiting nearby. A little white girl probably around 5 years old or so wandered up and just stared at us. After a few minutes of getting stared at, my dad asked if she needed something or if she was lost. The little girl came over, took my dad's outstretched hand and started to rub the top. After a moment, she looked up and asked "Doesn't it come off?" :smack:

Boston isn't the only New England area I've felt like a walking side show from the looks and stares I've gotten when I've been there, it's just the one that had the most for me. I wonder if I got so many stares because I totally don't fit the media's general portrayal of a young black female.

I think my Brother would not agree. He travel's those roads at those hours frequently because of his work with the SCCA. He gets nailed frequently, too. When the road is mostly empty, you rarely get any warning with instant-on radar, like you do with light traffic.
Some years back the courts decided a couple large ins companies screwed Bay Staters for billions. Part of the settlement was to supply EVERY police dept in the state with a new cruiser and radar gun. :mad2:

What can I say Bruce? God watches out for me. :biggrin:

In Boston the Irish and Italians stare at each other as well as strangers. :hafucking
Many parts of NE the only entertainment is watching strangers, after all it beats watching the Red Sox. Don't dismiss the possibility they were checking out your butt. ;)

:thumpsup:

Woo! I like that idea much better! :D

Maybe it's the NRA and product stickers. :haha:

Actually, in the Northeast, those are as frequent a reason to pull you over as "driving while black."