It is so easy for one to be become caught up in negativity. The news is filled with terrible stories; rarely do good deeds or happy events bare reporting. Those people who complain and try to impose their own moral and behavioral agenda on others can seem so overwhelming that analyzing and writing about them can become a daily burden and can cause one to loose perspective. I am happy to be able to relay some fantastic news to those of you who follow my writings. Sanity does seem to exist in some quarters.
Today being Saturday, I was of course at work at my job in the Castro. My nudist friend CJ showed up about ten minutes before I was due to be finished. I finished my shift, did my end of shift duties, walked out the front door of the restaurant, removed my clothing, and joined him at a table on the Castro Commons. While we sat there enjoying the sun and the air folks would occasionally come over to us to ask what we were doing, why we were doing it, or just to take pictures. We happily obliged them all, CJ is quite a spokesperson for the civic nudist cause. After about an hour two police officers approached us. By now there were perhaps four or five people with cameras talking to us and three of our other nudists friends had joined us.
“Good afternoon gentleman,” the one officer said. “How are you guys today?” We responded that we were fine. He proceeded to explain that they were there because they had received several complaints that nude men were in the Commons and there were lots of families around the area. The officer than said that he could see we were not breaking any laws, that indeed there was no law against just being nude in San Francisco and he observed that we were just out getting some sun. He then asked us if we were having any problems, if anyone was harassing us. We replied that everything was fine, to which he replied that they were only responding to the complaints and that they observed that we were in fact, not breaking the law. He then told us to enjoy ourselves and left.
I cannot begin to express to you how wonderful and empowering this felt to me. In fact, my friend CJ was preparing to leave to get some food and I was planing to head off home. CJ put his clothing on to go into the restaurant where I work. We said our goodbyes, and I walked down Castro Street and up Eighteenth Street, naked, my head held high in the knowledge that I had the backing of at least two of San Francisco’s police officers.
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3 comments:
Nice description of our positive police encounter. Since I joined the public/civic nudist ranks just over a month ago, my first police encounter was also positive. The intervening ones have been less pleasant. But I will approach tomorrow with a hopeful outlook. -CJ
Thanks for sharing this piece of good news. Also, I'm impressed with the two from the SFPD! It would be nice if law enforcemnt everywhere was this tolerant!
Well, that is great for the police officers stopped and chatted; though here in Oregon one of the liberal ststes in the union beside Vermont. Walking around nude in any city in Oregon might land one in jail because being expused, except at the resorts and a few beaches here. Let me tell you one time after school was out for the summer break at college I took a book and a towel and a blanket over to campus, where I thought it was private; a campus cop showed up and asked me what I was doing? I told him that I was just reading and enjoying the afternoom sun. He told me that I better put something on otherwise he'd have to give me a ticket for exposure. so I put the towel over me and went home and from then on I was alwas looking for a very private place to sunbath nude while reading or doing homework on campus in the raw.
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