Which it actually works and everyone keeps doing what their doing... talking, eating and drinking. So I'm glad they roll through there and keep an eye out on us. I would hate something that's been going so good get ruined. This (1) cop is doing that without anything going wrong which is what is ruining it right now for all of us.

I would just like for that (1) officer before kicking us out to watch us for a few hrs and then determine if we should be kicked out. At this point he doesn't do that. Just rolls in real fast, gets out of his car... doesn't even turn on lights or sirens and kicks everyone out.

 

The point I'm trying to make is the bottom line. If having a big crowd increase revenue proportionally then Sonics will love having the crowd and they will tell the cops to back off. But if having that crowd runs business off then they will keep the cop. It's business.

And I've been to Sonics on a Saturday night. 500 people could easily flow through there in a two hour span. Unfortunately they don't all spend money.

 

look, man... if this really bothers you this much, why don't you actually do something about it? do some research, find all the applicable laws, and see if this lone ranger cop is within his rights. if not, talk to his department head and see what gives. if he is, however, let it go and accept defeat.

 

you are not going to like what i am going to say but this is the real worlds outlook - the police think these little fart can cars are a nuisance, they want you to go home!, where responsible adults should be. A car is not a toy but a tool to get you around (and a privalege to drive not a right). People who have automobiles as toys enjoy them at legal gatherings like car shows & race tracks, to hang out at the local fast food store is just asking for a problem. It is always that one asshole who ruins it for the rest - so it is easier to kick everyone out and not even deal with the crap at all.

 

When the cops kick us out... we do not go home. Maybe they think we are at 9:58pm on a Saturday. But come on be realistic... would you go home that early on a Saturday?

Responsible adults should be home all the time? I work Monday-Friday and I'm off on weekends. My wife and I, need time to go out... weekends is it. Were both into cars so I say that's better then us drinking and hitting a club. Instead were having dinner and enjoying looking at people's cars and talking to friends. If an adult were to just work and be home all the time that would be one terrible life to live and a boring one. So responsible adults should not be home at all times. You only live once. My wife and I aren't party people and none of that other nonsense "responsible" adults do on a day to day basis. We work and every so often when we do go out is to run errans. Besides that we might catch a movie and if there's a car meet we will go to them. I think were responsible.

Very seldom car shows and tracks over time get more expensive just going to spectate then just going to a resturant to eat and hang out with other enthusiasts.

I am aware of the "real" world outlook. Modified cars in general has been here for generations and years upon years don't see why now everyone is trying to persue differently. If I recall a lot of towns had these same meets were trying to have at resturants years upon years ago in which cops did not harrass people like they do now. So my "real" world outlook is... some weren't "in" the crowd then... so now they are ruining it for the next generations to come.

 

Were talking Sonics on Hillsborough not Sonics on Gandy. Which is a lot smaller. You cannot fit 500 people at the one in Hillsborough. The one at Gandy you can just because people park outside the Sonics parking lot. But fitting everyone in the Sonics lot is impossible unless you squeeze everyone together and the person behind you... you can feel them breathing on your neck. I've yet to see 500 people even flow through the Sonics on Hillsborough yet alone any Sonics like it. Sonics car meets everywhere throughout Florida has been going on for years. I went to one's in Orlando back in 2000-2001 and those you couldn't fit 500 people unless they all parked outside the lot and walked around in groups.

So the only way I could believe 500 people could easily flow through there in a two hour span would be if I get there early and sit there with a clicker everytime someone pulls in. Which I'm sure it won't be near 500. Since I get there early anyways.

 

I hear you but I'm not going through all the trouble. Because fighting the law here in Florida does not work. Even if your doing everything by the law... somehow your still doing something wrong. What I can do though is order food, he tells me to leave, I ask for his name and badge number and just report him for harrassment since I'm trying to get some food and eat dinner and I'm parked like any other person ordering food from Sonics. This will be my next step and then if it still occurs we migrate somewhere else and go back there a few months from now. It all revolves, they get their win for a month or so then were back.

But yup there's always (1) bad apple that ruins the whole tree. That's why I can't wait for school to start and kids being out less.

 

you said yourself that you and your wife work mon-fri. these kids go to school during that same time. they're just trying to unwind like yourself. and if you think that going away for a month then coming back is going to be a simple fix, you're wrong... this has been going on now for several years, it's nothing new. just because i no longer live there doesn't mean i don't know what i'm talking about. i've only been gone for three years and i grew up there doing what you're doing now.

 

I didn't state just me going away and coming back to the meet that everything would change. Majority of people stop going for months because of reasons like this one cop and then wait it out and come back to realize "hey its back up and running like it was before". It's a cycle. I'm not new to this, I've been going to meets years upon years. So I know how they work. I know for sure if one gets broken up people aren't running off home. So that's another opinion based upon what you think cops think. Which again is wrong. Everyone bounces from meet to meet, usually you go to these things knowing people and with a group of friends. So everyone leaves in packs and migrate somewhere else when they end up getting kicked out.

The point of this thread if you haven't taken the time to read is why do they bother us when were not doing anything wrong. When they kick us out we do go to the race spots because on a Saturday nights its the only place people are aware of. If they leave us there (Sonics) and it gets late most of the people then go home. You kick us out early guess what we don't plan on going home. That's the point that is trying to get across.

People just need to be there and watch what takes place before commenting on this whole problem. Anyone can assume without being there because they have been to this or that meet and some similiar occasions took place. But everyone keeps bringing the point up of someone must have been doing something stupid, a burnout, or something. Well none of that has occur from what I've been seeing in the last 2 months I've been going to THIS meet.

But everyone can think what they want. We are just trying to figure out what's going on. As stupid as it may seem everything was going fine till this (1) cop showed up. Like we stated, there's one in the gas station watching us and is there every Saturday. Pulls in there a few minutes before we start showing up. Not once has kicked us out and he/she has left us alone. There's other cops that come through there and have left us alone. So what gives with just this (1) cop. That's what we are trying to point across as well.

 

look, man, i'm not trying to have a battle of "i'm better then you because i've been to this meet and KNOW how things are." i can promise you that it was exactly the same, no matter what meet you're at, at what sonic, or in what city... it's all the same, and has been for years. i understand the point you're trying to get across, and to an extent, i agree. however, the point that you need to understand from me, is that no matter what you say, how much you bitch about it on a web forum, or how many people see your point... nothing is going to change. cops don't like gatherings like this. they're not stupid and then know exactly what's going to happen later on in the evening. my step father is a deputy with pinellas county and i hear all about it. i'm privy to a lot of things that you probably have no idea of as far as things the law is trying to do to deter this type of behavior.

apparently you're just too stubborn to get the hint.