Giggling teen flips judge the bird, judge not amused

[DiamondDave]

I love this judge.

Giggling teen flips judge the bird, judge not amused
By Mike Krumboltz

Never mess with people who have the power to make your life miserable. That includes DMV employees, waiters and baggage handlers. And judges. Especially them.

A Miami woman facing drug charges made her situation much worse when she laughed at and then flipped off the man with the gavel. File this case under: Ill advised.

According to NBC Miami, 18-year-old Penelope Soto was in court for charges relating to possession of Xanax, a prescription drug. Judge Jorge Rodriguez-Chomat was in the process of setting her bond. He asked Soto about the value of her jewelry. Soto laughed. That was strike one.

"It's not a joke, you know, we're not in a club now," Rodriguez-Chomat said. "We are not in a club. Be serious about it."

Soto replied: "I'm serious about it, you just made me laugh. You just made me laugh, I apologize. It's worth a lot of money."

The judge said, "Like what?" Soto compared the jewelry to a wealthy rapper. She replied that the jewelry is "like Rick Ross. It's worth money."

The perplexed judge asked if Soto had taken drugs within the past 24 hours, to which she answer, "Actually, no." The judge then set Soto's bond at $5,000 and said, "Bye-bye." Soto chuckled and said, "Adios." Strike two. The judge summoned her back and raised the bond to $10,000, eliciting gasps from those in the courtroom.

Soto asked if the judge was serious. Judges are not known for their humor, and Rodriguez-Chomat is no exception. "I am serious," he said. "Adios."

But Soto wasn't done. Instead of leaving the courtroom she flipped Rodriguez-Chomat the bird and said "Fuck you." And that was strike three. Soto was again called back and then sentenced to thirty days in the big house for contempt of court.

[wrekkr]

"Yes your honor" and "No your honor" are the proper responses when in court. That said with some of the decisions that have been in the US judicial system over the year I"m not suprised people think it ain't no big deal to be disrespectful while in court.

[DiamondDave]

I work retail.....I deal with the public every day.
There is little respect and fewer manners anymore.
I lose a little more faith in mankind every day.

[Sub]

I too work with the public 8hrs a day and am still surprised at how some people act.

Its like there is a false sense of entitlement and it will only get worse I'm afraid.

[DiamondDave]

I too work with the public 8hrs a day and am still surprised at how some people act.

Its like there is a false sense of entitlement and it will only get worse I'm afraid.

Completely agreed.

[wrekkr]

I find it funny that when I converse with people who work retail or deal with 'the public' in a kind and respectful manner they act suprised and thankful or think I'm trying to swindle them out of something.
Unfortunately it keep going back to that in general most "people suck"

[Tequila Cowboy]

I too work with the public 8hrs a day and am still surprised at how some people act.

Its like there is a false sense of entitlement and it will only get worse I'm afraid.

Completely agreed.

It's a phenomenon that's feeding on itself. Parents are disrespectful the kids observe it and it gets worse. I feel for you folks dealing with the public, I spent 25 years in retail and do not miss it at all. To get by you have to take the attitude that the people acting poorly towards you are not singling you out but are rather just angry people and you're just there. Unfortunately that's not quite true is it? The point is that they simply do not care about anyone but themselves, it's a societal narcissism that has slowly escalated over the last 35 years or so. To be honest we all do it to some degree, but those of us that are self aware fight those instincts and behave respectfully. I was taught growing up to treat others how you expect to be treated. How many people teach their kids that? Not many would be my guess, although knowing the quality of people on this board I fully expect that most of you with kids do.

20 years ago I called the police on a customer that grabbed me by the tie and began to choke me because the company I worked for didn't have a toy that his kid wanted. I was written up for it because when I said the customer crossed a line my boss said that customers have no line and our job was just to take it. Yeah, not big on taking an assault for the team. I quit not long after. Some years later, while working for a major bookstore chain during a Harry Potter book release event, I had a customer who had not reserved an audio book demand a copy anyway. He was told that he could get on a list and check back in at the end of the day for a copy. With his to young children beside him he got belligerent, called the clerk names and began to scream and demand a copy. When myself and another member of my management team confronted him we called us names and told us he would get what he wanted. (Oh, and as an aside, the man was well dressed and we later discovered drove a BMW, so he was not exactly riff raff.) At this point two police officers entered the store (having been called by another customer) and the man abruptly stopped. Ten minutes later he was found crawling behind the counter trying to steal the product and tried to bite an employee who attempted to stop him. The cops, who were still there, escorted him out and, apparently not wanting to arrest him in front of his kids, let him go with a warning. Think those kids learned their dad was an asshole? I doubt it and I'm sure they, now being in their late teens I would guess, behave in similar ways.

In the end all we can do is control our own actions. Be kind, treat people with respect and as much as possible act right even when we don't want to. If you have kids that really matters and if you don't (like myself) maybe someone else's kids are watching and you'll make a difference. Most importantly I know you'll make a difference to the people you're showing respect to. Sometimes that's enough.

[John A Arkansawyer]

Rude person, yes. Bad judge, too:

The perplexed judge asked if Soto had taken drugs within the past 24 hours, to which she answer, "Actually, no." The judge then set Soto's bond at $5,000 and said, "Bye-bye." Soto chuckled and said, "Adios." Strike two. The judge summoned her back and raised the bond to $10,000, eliciting gasps from those in the courtroom.

Bail isn't supposed to be a punishment. (It's been turned into one, and that's part of how the criminal justice system has gotten to be such an industrial system, and that's another story.) It's supposed to guarantee that you show up for trial. A judge doubling a bond amount like that is using bail as punishment. He's got other recourse, like contempt of court (which he later used).

I'm not terribly sympathetic to rude people, but I'm not terribly sympathetic to this justice system and its frenzied fits of escalatio, either.

[Cole Younger]

I saw this and loved it. Loved it I tell ya. I agree with yall 100% that civility is, if not dead, on the endangered species list. The thing is, part of the problem is that we all put up with it. My buddy did something the other day that we should all do more of. He was in line at a convenience store, there was an elderly lady and what he presumed was her grand daughter in font of him. Some jerk behind him was dropping F bombs left and right and saying things about the lady being too slow. My buddy is about my size, he turned around and told the punk, "You need to watch your mouth. In fact, you need to just shut up. She's moving as fast as she can."

Now you can only do so much but I say do what we can when we can. I fear that it is only going to get worse too but it doesn't have to. Thing is, we have an entire generation (at least) of people who have never gotten any kind of discipline from their parents or worse yet, don't know who one or in worse cases either of their parents. Couple that with the general lowering of standards across the societal board and you get what we saw in that clip.

I get the same thing wrekker. People at resteraunts and stores act like I'm from Mars because I'm nice to them.

[Zip City]

I work in retail. You can't take any shit home with you that customers do/say. You have to laugh it off. My attitude is that I'm there to help you, but my help isn't free. You pay for it with respect and civility.

[beantownbubba]

Yeah, I saw this video clip, too and almost posted it. Forget why i didn't. The judge was undoubtedly wrong to double bail, but i didn't blame him one bit. That woman was out of line from the get go and, btw, despite what she said she was clearly higher than a kite.

it's a societal narcissism that has slowly escalated over the last 35 years or so.

See The Culture of Narcissism by Christopher Lasch, written in the late '70's. From Wiki:

"The book proposes that post-war, late-capitalist America, through the effects of "organized kindness" on the traditional family structure,[3] has produced a personality-type consistent with clinical definitions of "pathological narcissism". This pathology is not akin to everyday narcissism — a hedonistic egoism — but rather a very weak sense of self requiring constant external validation. For Lasch, "pathology represents a heightened version of normality."[4] Lasch locates symptoms of this personality-disorder in the radical political movements of the 1960s (such as the Weather Underground), as well as in the spiritual cults and movements of the 1970s, from est to Rolfing. Behaviors such as streaking, theatrical illusion in contemporary drama, and a fascination with oral sex are evidence of long-term personality disintegration.[5]

"The book builds its thesis from Lasch's idiosyncratic political views and encyclopedic grasp of U.S. social and economic history, the then-current world of arts and letters, and clinical research and psychological theories on narcissistic personality disorders. As the utopian visions of the sixties faded into the "personal growth" lifestyles of the seventies, the chaos and excess of the former began to imprint itself on the public mind...

The book has been commonly misused by liberals and conservatives alike, citing it for their own ideological agendas. Author Louis Menand wrote:

Lasch was not saying that things were better in the 1950s, as conservatives offended by countercultural permissiveness probably took him to be saying. He was not saying that things were better in the 1960s, as former activists disgusted by the 'me-ism' of the seventies are likely to have imagined. He was diagnosing a condition that he believed had originated in the nineteenth century."

the man was well dressed and we later discovered drove a BMW, so he was not exactly riff raff

Leaving aside my own theory re BMW drivers, riff raff is how you act, not how much money you have. This guy was riff raff.

[sactochris]

Q What do you call a lawyer with an IQ of 75?
A Your honor!

[rlipps]

I work in retail. You can't take any shit home with you that customers do/say. You have to laugh it off. My attitude is that I'm there to help you, but my help isn't free. You pay for it with respect and civility.

As a teacher, I use that same philosophy. Once the bell rings in the evening, I leave the job here and don't bring that crap home to my wife and kids. My wife just started teaching this year too, so that's been one of her biggest challenges, being able to just drop everything at 3:05 and not worry about it till the next morning.

I also worked in retail from the time I was about 13, all the way through college. My cousin owned a hardware store in our small town, and I made some friends working there that I still have today, but I also dealt with all the negative stuff you guys were mentioning earlier in the thread. Sadly, I'm afraid I agree with whoever said things are just going to get worse.

[Cole Younger]

I spent nearly three years working for the National Park Service. That is a dream job for some folks but I absolutely hated every minute of it. Boy howdy the rude, entitled, self centered jerks you deal with in that line of work! You wouldn't believe it. The day I left was like getting out of prison.

[Beebs]

Leaving aside my own theory re BMW drivers, riff raff is how you act, not how much money you have. This guy was riff raff.

Majority share holders of BMW are the billionaire grandchildren of Joseph Geobbels. Therefore, as determined by BeebLogic, BMW owners are Nazi sympathizers.

[Cole Younger]

Leaving aside my own theory re BMW drivers, riff raff is how you act, not how much money you have. This guy was riff raff.

Majority share holders of BMW are the billionaire grandchildren of Joseph Geobbels. Therefore, as determined by BeebLogic, BMW owners are Nazi sympathizers.

My sister drives a BMW. She's nice.

[beantownbubba]

Leaving aside my own theory re BMW drivers, riff raff is how you act, not how much money you have. This guy was riff raff.

Majority share holders of BMW are the billionaire grandchildren of Joseph Geobbels. Therefore, as determined by BeebLogic, BMW owners are Nazi sympathizers.

Some people I know won't buy VW's, Audis, BMW's or Mercedes because of those companies' pasts, all of which have direct links to the Nazi regime. I'm one of them. I also know plenty of people who own cars from one or more of those companies, including many Jews. I don't think any less of them. It just makes me feel better to buy something else. I don't think BMW owners are Nazis. I do think that a wildly disproportionate number of them are assholes, exactly in the ways described above in this thread as well as in many others. Personal unscientific survey:

If a car in a crowded parking lot is parked at such an angle as to purposely take up 2 spaces that car is likely to be:

BMW: 50%
Mercedes: 25%
All others: 25%

[Beebs]

I don't really think BMW drivers are Nazi sympathizers, but the Joe Goebbles bit is true. It's not the companies past. It's its present.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-2 ... aires.html

A brand doesn't equal a jerk. Douche nozzles drive all kinds of things. I, for instance, currently drive a Honda.

[Tequila Cowboy]

I work in retail. You can't take any shit home with you that customers do/say. You have to laugh it off. My attitude is that I'm there to help you, but my help isn't free. You pay for it with respect and civility.

As a teacher, I use that same philosophy. Once the bell rings in the evening, I leave the job here and don't bring that crap home to my wife and kids. My wife just started teaching this year too, so that's been one of her biggest challenges, being able to just drop everything at 3:05 and not worry about it till the next morning.

I also worked in retail from the time I was about 13, all the way through college. My cousin owned a hardware store in our small town, and I made some friends working there that I still have today, but I also dealt with all the negative stuff you guys were mentioning earlier in the thread. Sadly, I'm afraid I agree with whoever said things are just going to get worse.

Yes it will get worse, but if smart, thoughtful parents such of yourself keep teaching your kids the right way eventually it will get better. Part of the problem, particularly among upper middle class families, is that parents do not encourage their kids to work. When I was a teen it wasn't even an option. I and most of my peers worked from about the age of 15 on. I don't necessarily blame these families because with Universities and colleges becoming more and more competitive it has become far more important for teens to concentrate on their schooling, extra curricular activities and even community volunteering because the more of these experience a young person has the better their chance at getting into the good schools. That's not even talking about scholarships. I think the answer is that during the summer kids need to either work or volunteer in situations that put them in direct contact with the general public. That experience is invaluable. If they can swing a part time job during the school term that's even better but from talking to parents I know with kids that either are teenagers or have just gone through that experience it really isn't an option for most of them. It's a paren'ts job to find the options most appropriate for their children. Either way I think kids learn a ton from being in those kind of public situations.

Of course the other side of the coin are kids that come from lower middle class or poor families. These kids either have to work, or often get themselves in trouble and become angrier and angrier. Now all that being said some of these kids avoid both of those traps and end up being some of the nicest kids you'd ever want to meet. mainly because their parents were hardworking, grounded individuals. That situation is occurring less and less though. I think the lesson to be learned there is that parents have to be involved, even when money is tight. Yep, easier said than done but I don't see good substitutes.

Again I see some light in the situation because there has been a greater and greater emphasis on parenting in recent years and of course that's the answer. Again though it might get a whole lot worse before it gets better.

PS.

I'm not a parent, and I would never tell someone how to parent their kids. I don't think it's unreasonable though to expect parents to raise their kids to be responsible, caring adults because their behavior, positive and negative, will ultimately affect all of us.

[beantownbubba]

I don't really think BMW drivers are Nazi sympathizers, but the Joe Goebbles bit is true. It's not the companies past. It's its present.

I understand. I was making a different but related point or observation. But OTOH, sins of the fathers and all that - their genes don't necessarily make them Nazis. I haven't read the article so pardon me if there is actual evidence of their sympathies.

[beantownbubba]

I work in retail. You can't take any shit home with you that customers do/say. You have to laugh it off. My attitude is that I'm there to help you, but my help isn't free. You pay for it with respect and civility.

As a teacher, I use that same philosophy. Once the bell rings in the evening, I leave the job here and don't bring that crap home to my wife and kids. My wife just started teaching this year too, so that's been one of her biggest challenges, being able to just drop everything at 3:05 and not worry about it till the next morning.

I also worked in retail from the time I was about 13, all the way through college. My cousin owned a hardware store in our small town, and I made some friends working there that I still have today, but I also dealt with all the negative stuff you guys were mentioning earlier in the thread. Sadly, I'm afraid I agree with whoever said things are just going to get worse.

Yes it will get worse, but if smart, thoughtful parents such of yourself keep teaching your kids the right way eventually it will get better. Part of the problem, particularly among upper middle class families, is that parents do not encourage their kids to work. When I was a teen it wasn't even an option. I and most of my peers worked from about the age of 15 on. I don't necessarily blame these families because with Universities and colleges becoming more and more competitive it has become far more important for teens to concentrate on their schooling, extra curricular activities and even community volunteering because the more of these experience a young person has the better their chance at getting into the good schools. That's not even talking about scholarships. I think the answer is that during the summer kids need to either work or volunteer in situations that put them in direct contact with the general public. That experience is invaluable. If they can swing a part time job during the school term that's even better but from talking to parents I know with kids that either are teenagers or have just gone through that experience it really isn't an option for most of them. It's a paren'ts job to find the options most appropriate for their children. Either way I think kids learn a ton from being in those kind of public situations.

Of course the other side of the coin are kids that come from lower middle class or poor families. These kids either have to work, or often get themselves in trouble and become angrier and angrier. Now all that being said some of these kids avoid both of those traps and end up being some of the nicest kids you'd ever want to meet. mainly because their parents were hardworking, grounded individuals. That situation is occurring less and less though. I think the lesson to be learned there is that parents have to be involved, even when money is tight. Yep, easier said than done but I don't see good substitutes.

Again I see some light in the situation because there has been a greater and greater emphasis on parenting in recent years and of course that's the answer. Again though it might get a whole lot worse before it gets better.

PS.

I'm not a parent, and I would never tell someone how to parent their kids. I don't think it's unreasonable though to expect parents to raise their kids to be responsible, caring adults because their behavior, positive and negative, will ultimately affect all of us.

Wow, that's quite a minefield you've entered into there, Cowboy. I admire your guts

True story: I worked from the time I was 13 or 14. I expected my kids to do the same, more or less. But imagine my surprise that when it came time to make it happen, I couldn't identify a single time period when either kid could work. I spent hours and hours trying to figure out how that could be - if i had time why didn't they? Best I could come up with is that teen life is much more serious now - not just the competition for college and what one must do for that, but even just participating in activities: Sports require more hours per day more weeks of the year; same w/ clubs and activities. Don't even ask about theater - it's practically a full time job itself. I can't say my kids were the most diligent about their schoolwork, but even there, more time was required, at least for "projects" and special assignments to say nothing of the "enrichment" programs some kids (not mine) participate in (see "competition for college"). When it came to summers, I actually had higher priorities for my kids than working, though that obviously could have been the time they made up some of that ground. It was a trade-off that i consciously made.

I guess that might sound defensive, but that's not how i intend it or how i feel about it. I say it mostly in puzzlement (i still can't figure out how it worked out that way and it still surprises me) and partly just to provide one example of one family's experience. But that's still no excuse for not bringing up one's children "right" and i like to think we did ok on that (which is why i'm not defensive ).

[Tequila Cowboy]

That's why I said there were other ways to get those experiences, Beantown, and knowing how your kids have comported themselves as young adults, I think you managed to teach those lessons without the jobs. My parents didn't give a shit about me doing my homework, although they sure yelled at me when report cards came, but despite working about 30 hours a week during high school, competing in baseball early on, swimming all four years, and participating in theater, I still managed to be in the upper third of my graduating class with a little better than a B average. I didn't even try. I was lucky though, it was a different time, teachers weren't as good and weeding out the bullshitters and I was one hell of a bullshitter. I was smart too and some aren't so lucky. Still the job taught me a lot. It taught me people skills, work ethic and how to develop coping skills to keep me from killing folks. I did much better in college because of a few things; first, after one aborted semester right after high school, I worked for a living for a couple years, I went to college late (I started at 21) and I didn't go until I both wanted to and could pay for myself (yes, I got some help but not a lot, and I also had grants from McDonald's for whom I worked at the time). I did far better in college than high school and I actually only worked in the summers (playing in bands and in restaurants). The point is my experiences were pretty well rounded. I'm not the most successful guy in the world but I do better than some and can say without question that I'm proud of who I am. A lot of kids have pretty well rounded experience today as well, but in completely different ways. It's possible. A lot of them though miss out of some of the more humbling experiences though and end up, frankly, with pretty poor social skills, and I don't think I'm going out on a limb here by saying they are often not proud of who they are and trample people in their path trying to get there. Having good parents really helps solve this problem, and many have them and do. Again, Beantown, yours are living proof.

[Beebs]

But OTOH, sins of the fathers and all that - their genes don't necessarily make them Nazis.

Genes don't make them Nazi's. Wallowing in the spoils of holocaust profiteering does.

[beantownbubba]

But OTOH, sins of the fathers and all that - their genes don't necessarily make them Nazis.

Genes don't make them Nazi's. Wallowing in the spoils of holocaust profiteering does.

Guess what? It helps to read the facts. I get to the same place you do but by a different path: As I understand the article, the money and ownership interests actually don't come thru Goebbels but thru another side of the family that was your basic war profiteer, user of slave labor, etc. The implication seems to be that the family patriarch made money despite, not because of, his connection to Goebbels thru his ex-wife, though it's not exactly clear. So in my book they're the same as the Krupp's, VW's and Daimler-Benz's of the world (or more specifically, of Nazi Germany).

Interestingly, one of the heirs converted to Judaism and married a concentration camp survivor. It is one crazy world, isn't it?

[Beebs]

Guess what? It helps to read the facts.

I'm sure it does. But composing a line like "Wallowing in the spoils of holocaust profiteering" wins out.

[beantownbubba]

Guess what? It helps to read the facts.

I'm sure it does. But composing a line like "Wallowing in the spoils of holocaust profiteering" wins out.

Only if somebody other than the composer says so I will concede, however, that it's better than "it is one crazy world, isn't it?"

Oh. WAIT! I was saying that I hadn't read the facts and understood more of what you were saying once i had. Geez, beebs, I'd like to think my parents brought me up to be less rude than that

[Tequila Cowboy]

Geez, beebs, I'd like to think my parents brought me up to be less rude than that

[Beebs]

Geez, beebs, I'd like to think my parents brought me up to be less rude than that

Too late. We're done Bubba. No Northeast run with the Beebs for you.

[Smitty]

I can't imagine any retail job being much worst than my first (tax paying) job, and that was working at a college bookstore. I would literally have my life threatened when I would tell some shithead that he couldn't buy so and so with his financial aid. Fortunately (or unfortunately, I guess it depends on how you look at it), I only had to deal with customers during rush or finals (we sold the scan tron answer sheets) so I would go for weeks or more without a single customer... talk about being bored. Did it for two years until the I experienced the most embarrassing job fail of my life - remember how I said I'd go for weeks with no customers? Well one class had finals rescheduled and I didn't know about it, and not expected any customers, I locked up shop and took me an extended lunch break (like 3 hour lunch break). I was in the rec room shooting pool with some of the welding class guys and flirting with the massage therapy chicks when the Dean comes in fuming and tells me to give him the keys and storms out towards the store. I knew I was in deep shit when I saw the line of students down the hall, waiting to get their scan tron sheets...
My boss seemed (creepily) to have a crush on me, so he gave me the option of quitting, being fired or switching to another store on a different campus, but I chose to quit.

Not sure what any of this had to do with the thread, but sometimes I get to rambling for no particular reason.

[Slipkid42]

My wife works as a receptionist @ a dentist's office & is constantly bringin' home stories of woe about the patients. I hate hearin' that stuff & wish she would just grin & bear it. I've known since I was a teenager that I couldn't work any job where I would have to deal with the general public. My threshold for snivel & rudeness is extremely low & I could envision myself comin' over the counter at the drop of a hat. Same reason I knew I could never join the military. The first time some drill sgt. talked down to me, I would be on KP or in the brig. I ALWAYS try to be courteous to whoever I'm talkin' to & I expect the same in return. If it doesn't happen that way; then I give as I get.

Manners have eroded since I was a teenager. Back then, almost everyone was courteous. Very few kids were Eddie Haskells. You know the ones who only acted polite in front of elders or somebody's parents. I don't know what to blame the erosion of courtesy on. Maybe TV, or maybe parents don't try as hard to instill those values in their children. Maybe it's the perception that nice guys finish last. I think the rat race that we live in, with mothers & fathers both working has contributed. Parents come home stressed to the max & there just isn't enough time for proper upbringing of the children anymore. The TV became the babysitter & after the Sesame Street years, kids are exposed to a wide variety of programming. Often street cred is more glorified than being polite to your fellow humans. My wife & I have always tried to instill courtesy (and honesty) into our daughter. To her credit she has always been a darling angel around everyone she encounters. I don't even think she's bein' phoney about it. Everyone raves to us how polite she is (as if it is a rarity). She can be a little demon when it's just us, though (and I can't tell you how many little white lies I've caught her in). My point is, that even if the parents try with all of their might to raise their children properly; it might not be enough to ensure that their child will turn out alright. There are just too many other factors & distractions that can sway them in the wrong direction these days. It's a dog eat dog world we live in & common courtesy was one of the first things to go.