HeHateY

(OK, not exactly travel related, but very-much related to "Security Theater")

A tale of customer service, justice and currency as funny as a $2 bill

PUT YOURSELF in Mike Bolesta's place. On the morning of Feb. 20, he buys a new radio-CD player for his 17-year-old son Christopher's car. He pays the $114 installation charge with 57 crisp new $2 bills, which, when last observed, were still considered legitimate currency in the United States proper. The $2 bills are Bolesta's idea of payment, and his little comic protest, too.

For this, Bolesta, Baltimore County resident, innocent citizen, owner of Capital City Student Tours, finds himself under arrest.

Finds himself, in front of a store full of customers at the Best Buy on York Road in Lutherville, locked into handcuffs and leg irons.

Finds himself transported to the Baltimore County lockup in Cockeysville, where he's handcuffed to a pole for three hours while the U.S. Secret Service is called into the case.

Have a nice day, Mike.

"Humiliating," the 57-year old Bolesta was saying now. "I am 6 feet 5 inches tall, and I felt like 8 inches high. To be handcuffed, to have all those people looking on, to be cuffed to a pole -- and to know you haven't done anything wrong. And me, with a brother, Joe, who spent 33 years on the city police force. It was humiliating."

What we have here, besides humiliation, is a sense of caution resulting in screw-ups all around.

(snip)

"...'I get them from my bank. You got a problem, call the bank,'" Bolesta says. "I'm sitting there in a chair. The store's full of people watching this. All of a sudden, he's standing me up and handcuffing me behind my back, telling me, 'We have to do this until we get it straightened out.'

"Meanwhile, everybody's looking at me. I've lived here 18 years. I'm hoping my kids don't walk in and see this. And I'm saying, 'I can't believe you're doing this. I'm paying with legal American money.'"

Bolesta was then taken to the county police lockup in Cockeysville, where he sat handcuffed to a pole and in leg irons while the Secret Service was called in.

"At this point," he says, "I'm a mass murderer."

Finally, Secret Service agent Leigh Turner arrived, examined the bills and said they were legitimate, adding, according to the police report, "Sometimes ink on money can smear."

This will be important news to all concerned.

For Baltimore County police, said spokesman Bill Toohey, "It's a sign that we're all a little nervous in the post-9/11 world."

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/loc...cal-columnists

http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/gadgets/index.php

http://forums.anandtech.com/messagev...&enterthread=y

HeHateY

My favorite line from the Sun article:

For Baltimore County police, said spokesman Bill Toohey, "It's a sign that we're all a little nervous in the post-9/11 world."

That's right kids... you TOO can avoid responsibility for your abhorrent actions. Just utter the magic words:

"In this post-911 world"

Yes, this simple phrase will release you from all responsibility for your wanton acts of:

Fascism
Stupidity
Censorship
Abuse
Paranoia
Dishonesty
Imperialism
Human Rights Violations; and last but not least,
Murder

So try "In this post-911 world" today, and have a brighter, less culpable tomorrow!

FWAAA

I will henceforth begin carrying large quantities of crisp, sequentially numbered two dollar bills when I travel.

What morons.

Xyzzy

I've been doing this for years. You'd be amazed at the varied reactions I've gotten ... but I've never been arrested

wahooflyer

$2 bills are also excellent for handing out tips to service staff.

bdschobel

I can vouch for that! I got a couple when we met for dinner one night! ^

Bruce

GoAmtrak

This is especially true aboard Amtrak's long-distance trains, where you have the same waitstaff for 2 or 3 days. They remember those $2 bills!

GeneralAviation

I hope this guy files a law suit against both BEST BUY and against
the morons at the Baltimore County Police. What fools.

As a result of those lawsuits, I hope he's awarded a huge
pile of $2 bills!

bdschobel

He would be wasting his time and money. No judge or, especially, jury would find fault with people who "just want to be safe." Calling the police was almost certainly OK, and the police probably cannot be sued for holding the guy until the Secret Service arrived.

This is certainly a stupid event, but I don't see it as generating a successful lawsuit. Just my 2 cents.

Bruce

Roger

Ah, yes - Best Buy.

Duly noted. A place to avoid on my next trip.

bocastephen

My question: who held him until the police arrived? If the store flipped out over the $2 bills, why didnt he either change his payment or just tell the store staff to go flip off and then walk away. What right did the store have to hold him, since he was not caught shoplifting?

doctall41

This story literally (ok, maybe not literally, but you know what I mean) got my blood boiling. I could feel my blood pressure rising as I read it. I pictured myself fighting with the police as I knew I had done nothing wrong. Of course, that would only bring more charges against me, and they would stick. I'm not much for lawsuits, but I'd be behind this guy on this one.

I guess they thought he may be a terrorist, since they referenced the post 9/11 world. What idiocy!

biggs

I think that Best Buy will be the potential target of a lawsuit and the suits in management would be smart to settle behind the scene with a nice new plasma HDTV. The police wll be immune.

But now I am worried about that Susan B. Anthony dollar I just got.

Doppy

Go to Vegas. Some casinos will sell you a "pad" of brand new $2 bills. By "pad" I mean they're bonded along the top like the sheets of a notepad. They raise a few eyebrows.

Doppy

Yeah, that's a good question. He'd legitimately made a purchase so they had no grounds to detain him.

The problem is that they probably wouldn't have let him take his merchandise or given him a refund so he'd lose that money if he walked out (assuming security didn't forcibly detain him at that point).

What crap.

It's a sign that we're all complete idiots in the post-9/11 world.