Trumpie Tantrum Shopping Spree

[Grasswire2]

31. I was threatened last week by a rangy old dude. Really.

At my beloved farmers market.

I heard hollering on the sidewalk and went over to see what was happening.

Two police cars had a young man kettled on the sidewalk and the officers were out of their cars. The kid was not white-skinned, so I walked near to stand and bear witness to the event. An officer told me to step away, so I did, to the corner with my phone in hand, in case this needed recording. The officer noticed that.

The kid became quite agitated, but he knew his rights. Kept telling them NOT TO TOUCH him. They ran his ID. And one cop eventually became frustrated and sped off. Eventually the other cop left, too, after fifteen minutes or so.

The only other person watching this was a rangy tall white-haired dude, who I mistakenly thought to be a hippy type.

I spoke to the kid. Cliff. Asked him what had happened. He said he had commented loudly to several people at the farmers market who were not wearing masks. Asked them if they thought they were immune. The market manager called the police on him.

He left, and this rangy dude stepped up to me. A good eighteen inches taller. He leaned in (not wearing a mask) and said "You are protecting an idiot." Me: "Who is the idiot?" He indicated the kid. I said 'He's a citizen expressing himself on public property, as is his right."

Him, very menacingly: "You'd better be very careful who you criticize."

I drew myself up to my full height and this came out of my mouth, unbidden: "WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT???"

I am a soft-spoken woman, usually. But I think I scared him. I LOVE my farmers market, but I was not happy about the manager calling police for a kid mouthing off.