[6TEE8GTO]

For those that get "The Legend" with your GTOAA membership... In this month's copy, there's a story titled "Wisconsin State Trooper Incident"

To use a phrase from the person who told this tale- "COMPLETE RUBBISH!"

The backstory is that this fellow from the UK was here in the USA, and was stopped for speeding in Beloit, WI by a State Trooper on the intersate. His account of it does not sound anything like the people here in Wisconsin, especially his account of what was supposedly said to him. He claims he was called "Boy" by the "Desk Sergeant" who "was smoking a big cigar". He refers to Beloit and later Janesville as "small towns". Couple things- Beloit is a city of over 37,000 people and Janesville is a city of over 60,000 people, these are not "small towns" by any stretch. What's more, anyone employed in Wisconsin, ESPECIALLY law enforcement, know we have had laws on the books for a few years now where smoking in the workplace is forbidden, and cops can't even smoke in their squad cars. It sounded like a totally fabricated story by someone from outside the USA that has watched "Smokey and the Bandit" one too many times, and fails to realize that he was stereotyping a Southern small town deputy while in the extreme Northern USA. We don't speak that way up here fella... Furthermore, I've been stopped on that stretch before by a trooper, was treated very respectfully, told to slow down ( I was going over 80 MPH at the time) and let off with a warning... I suppose they need stories to publish. The whole ting sounds very made up to blunt honest...

Ok.. rant over.

[johnta1]

Story written by the UK bloke?

Sounds very made up.
(maybe 50 some years ago possible)

[6TEE8GTO]

Originally Posted by johnta1

Story written by the UK bloke?

Sounds very made up.
(maybe 50 some years ago possible)

EXACTLY John!!! LOL...! It's an insult to Wisconsin people. Sheesh...

[Chris65LeMans]

I like to read British news stories about the U.S., because they don't have as much of an "angle" like our news here in the states. Like American journalists, they often just make stuff up rather than spend 5 minutes researching.

The British journalists, however, don't have the knowledge of American culture needed to make such lies sound at least partially believable. Some examples include confusing the north with the south, including Los Angeles in the south, and getting historical references completely wrong. My favorite so far is "... when Abraham Lincoln joined the Democrats to outlaw slavery."

[Stuart]

You'll probably get better results by sending a complaint to the GTOAA than by posting it here.

[6TEE8GTO]

Originally Posted by Stuart

You'll probably get better results by sending a complaint to the GTOAA than by posting it here.

I don't expect any "results". It's a discussion topic and nothing more...

[The Champ]

I didn't read the article and don't know exactly what was said.

But to many people (even here in the USA) - Janesville and Beloit are "small" towns. And I live outside of a town that has a population of 1100...

Some people would even consider Milwaukee, the largest community in Wisconsin, a small town - and Janesville and Beloit have just a small fraction of the population of Milwaukee.

[72projectbird]

Cant take much of anything that comes across the pond as being legit. They love to knock America, and they'll alter their own stories to fit what they believe the U.S. is like.

Sounds like the story is complete BS. But that's not a surprise.

[Carmine]

I just read the article.Totally agree. It does sound like a lot of bogus nonsense to me. Someone has ben reading too many novels, Carmine.

[Simple Man]

Originally Posted by 6TEE8GTO

I don't expect any "results". It's a discussion topic and nothing more...

Why not mention it to the GTOAA? If someone is dissatisfied with the content of a publication, how are they going to know, unless told?

[400 4spd.]

Originally Posted by 6TEE8GTO

For those that get "The Legend" with your GTOAA membership... In this month's copy, there's a story titled "Wisconsin State Trooper Incident"

To use a phrase from the person who told this tale- "COMPLETE RUBBISH!"

The backstory is that this fellow from the UK was here in the USA, and was stopped for speeding in Beloit, WI by a State Trooper on the intersate. His account of it does not sound anything like the people here in Wisconsin, especially his account of what was supposedly said to him. He claims he was called "Boy" by the "Desk Sergeant" who "was smoking a big cigar". He refers to Beloit and later Janesville as "small towns". Couple things- Beloit is a city of over 37,000 people and Janesville is a city of over 60,000 people, these are not "small towns" by any stretch. What's more, anyone employed in Wisconsin, ESPECIALLY law enforcement, know we have had laws on the books for a few years now where smoking in the workplace is forbidden, and cops can't even smoke in their squad cars. It sounded like a totally fabricated story by someone from outside the USA that has watched "Smokey and the Bandit" one too many times, and fails to realize that he was stereotyping a Southern small town deputy while in the extreme Northern USA. We don't speak that way up here fella... Furthermore, I've been stopped on that stretch before by a trooper, was treated very respectfully, told to slow down ( I was going over 80 MPH at the time) and let off with a warning... I suppose they need stories to publish. The whole ting sounds very made up to blunt honest...

Ok.. rant over.

For those of us who don't live in England or Wisconsin, describe to us what a southern small town deputy is like. I live in a small southern town of only 90,000, so I will try and relate.

[Longs]

The story is written or "told" by the guy from the UK. The incident occurred 35 years ago, so who knows how much he's embellished it over the years. The driver is the founder of GTOAA who will be attending the 2017 convention in June, so someone could just ask him if it happened the way it's told.

[77 TRASHCAN]

Just another fabrication, someone producing their line of crap to influence the world. I'm getting sick of it. I refuse to watch the news. Walter Cronkite, where are you when we need you?

[6TEE8GTO]

Originally Posted by 400 4spd.

For those of us who don't live in England or Wisconsin, describe to us what a southern small town deputy is like. I live in a small southern town of only 90,000, so I will try and relate.

I think there's enough stereotypes out there in various movies that you get the gist of what I was saying... As for everyone's definitions of "small town" goes, these are cites in every respect, a "town" is like where I live; 10,000 people or less I would say is a pretty accepted definition of a "small town". In his travels along the I-system on the way up to Minnesota (dere hey) he would have passed thru hundreds of "small towns".

I'm sure the author, being from the UK, wouldn't appreciate it if i assumed he likes tea and crumpets and has bad teeth...

[The Champ]

I know that Wikipedia is not the gospel, but I think this is a decent description of "city" vs. "town"...

Megalopolis - a group of conurbations, consisting of more than ten million people each.

Conurbation - a group of large cities and their suburbs, consisting of three to ten million people.

Metropolis – a large city and its suburbs consisting of multiple cities and towns. The population is usually one to three million.

Large city – a city with a large population and many services. The population is <1 million people but over 300,000 people.

City – a city would have abundant services, but not as many as a large city. The population of a city is between 100,000 and 300,000 people.

Large town – a large town has a population of 20,000 to 100,000.

Town – a town has a population of 1,000 to 20,000.

I grew up in the "town" of Hibbing, MN - population at the time was about 17,000. And yes, it was officially referred to as a "town".

You might be 100% right about most of your rant, but getting upset about someone not considering Beloit and Janesville "cities" is not worth a rant.

[66sprint6]

I'll never forget being pulled over in 1993 on I-75 for speeding, I believe it was outside of Knoxville. Big cop, all done up with the cop shades and everything.
"Hey, boy. What do you think your doing, speeding on my highway?"
I look up to see he was smiling. He looks in my truck with my wife and two young kids and says "where y'all from?"
me: "Toronto"
him: "Ah, I like Canada. Nice and clean. Low crime rate"
me: "Ya, for sure."
him: OK, folks. Well if you could keep it at 65, I sure would appreciate it.
me: "Yes, sir."
him: Ok then, have a nice day. Bye, kids."

I've never had a problem before or since.

[Teej]

Originally Posted by Longs

The story is written or "told" by the guy from the UK. The incident occurred 35 years ago, so who knows how much he's embellished it over the years. The driver is the founder of GTOAA who will be attending the 2017 convention in June, so someone could just ask him if it happened the way it's told.

I will say that I think it's common that many stories end up being slightly more or less than what actually happened, regardless of it being a friend or a reporter telling them. And while I've not read the article, I think the above post makes some good points. Specifically that the "incident occurred 35 years ago".

In 1982 or thereabouts, could there have been a desk cop smoking a fat cigar? It was definitely possible where I grew up.

What were those towns like 35 years ago? And as others have said, depending on where you were from, they could be small towns. I grew up in a town of probably 2,500 people so 60,000 is a HUGE town to me. People from New York or Los Angeles? Not so much.

In the end it's just a story. It's either entertaining or it isn't. All just a matter of perspective.

Oh look, a new issue just arrived.....

[dataway]

35 years ago? I'll give it a pass then. I can't even remember what my name was 35 years ago.

[OCMDGTO]

Hey, it was a story for our entertainment. Great idea to ask Tony Bastien if it really matters to you what happened a few decades ago. I personally have been pulled over for no seatbelt when I had a seatbelt on and also pulled over for speeding when I was definitely not speeding. On the flip side I have been let off with a warning a few times I definitely deserved to go to jail. I guess it evens out eventually. I fully support law enforcement officers, especially nowadays

[Longs]

There's a school of thought that it always comes back to Seinfeld. As George Costanza says when he tells the story of his life, "these stories are not embellished, because they need no embellishment".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8WbxUZbOPQ

And as we know, George has firsthand experience with a GTO...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDLLPW20y3U