(Scroll down if you just want to see the pictures.)
This post is emblematic of why Lupe Valdez, Dallas County’s Democrat Sheriff (yes, the sheriff–as in the one elected by the entire county), is so criticized for her lack of people skills.
It’s March 15, 2008. The St. Patrick’s day parade had just ended. My family got out of a movie at Northpark Mall AMC and got stuck in the traffic.
As we were slowing to a stop, I noticed democrat Sheriff Lupe Valdez in the back of a Sheriff’s truck, also parked in traffic, right by us. All of us were stuck in a standstill.
After stopping, BANG! A car rear ended us.
Shaken hard, we pull right over. I got out, armed with my camera.
I looked over the roof of my car right at democrat Lupe, who was staring at me, and incredulously shouted, “Did you see what just happened?” Democrat Lupe only kept her stare.
I know the she heard me. I could hear the voices from her truck. (Note for democrat sheriffs: when someone yells at you while standing near a parked vehicle where vehicles aren’t supposed to park, that means something is up. Investigate.)
I know she heard the crash. She was maybe 25 feet away? (Note for democrat sheriffs: a loud bang could mean a crash just happened.)
I know she saw two cars pulled over on a congested road, with both drivers getting out. (Note for democrat sheriffs: Red flag! Cars pulling over and drivers getting out after a crash sound could mean a crash just happened!)
I know she could see something moving in the back seat if she wanted to. (Note for democrat sheriffs: Bells should be going off in your head! The movement in a child seat means a child is on board this just-crashed vehicle!)
I know she could see we were in busy traffic. (Note to democrat sheriffs: it’s not safe for motorists to stand on the driver’s side of of a car when moving traffic is zipping by!)
Democrat Lupe did nothing. No asking me to repeat my question. No sign of concern. No stopping the truck and helping with the scene. Nothing.
No need for our democrat sheriff to bother with regular peons!
About 1 minute later (time estimated from photograph timestamps), noticing the democrat sheriff was still busy doing nothing, I snapped this picture:
The democrat sheriff didn’t get far because traffic was backed up. (Full size original picture. If you check the EXIF data, note that I hadn’t yet “sprung forward” my camera’s clock, so it was reading CST/GMT-6.)
Close up of our democrat sheriff’s unconcerned, sun squinting smirk:
Here’s my car:
Fortunately, my car’s main damage was two pockmarks on the rear bumper. Nothing got shifted around, no seams were any different. Even the styrofoam under the bumper was uncracked, looking as good as new from the bottom. We’re not fixing anything; eliminating the dimples is more hassle than it’s worth.
Here’s the car that hit us:
I think I spooked that lady by whipping out my camera and taking pictures so quickly. She was very cooperative.
What a great performance by our democrat sheriff! Thanks, Lupe!