You might get away with the red bandana - blue bandana in Pittsfield, however waving the wrong color in the wrong place in Springfield you would not have gotten off so easily.
No offense, but the day I select the color of my bandana to wipe the sweat off my forehead or blow my snot into based on the sensitivities, (or lack) of local gang members - here, Springfield or anywhere for that matter, will be the day we should all just give up. Just leave the whole goddamned country to the politico and the crackheads. First of all, I wasn't "waving" anything. I pulled a bandana out of my pocket to wipe my brow. Secondly, I would do the
exact same thing in downtown Springfield, or anywhere else for that matter. I will be held prisoner by no one - especially thugs. Thirdly, whose to say who got off easily? I'm no wilting lilly by any stretch....
If you choose your snot-rag color based on where you are, I feel sorry for you - you've given up already....
As to Pittsfield, it would be unfair to say the police were doing nothing but road detail, although there are more simultaneous road projects going on than I've ever seen here. In fact, I see more patrol cars on the street and more officers on the beat, (foot patrols and bikes) than any other time I can remember. I have not only met, (and am privileged to know) new officers, but also met Chief Wynn. He has an uphill battle and seems like a good guy, up to the challenge - and pro 2A. Whomever got Riello can have him. My last conversation with him was just before I moved out of Pittsfield when he said: "You'll never have an all lawful purposes license in my town". I never looked back. The PPD has a lot on it's hands. We are right on the NY border and a couple of hours from NYC. Drugs are a huge problem and with them comes the element that deals in them.
On a final note, I walked up to the third floor deck of the parking garage on Columbus Ave this afternoon to find about 10 kids between the ages of 15 and 19 I'd say. Most of them smoking, all of them disheveled and looking tough. As I walked past them and went toward my car, one of the kids hopped on a skateboard and breezed by. As he came back, I was tossing my laptop into my hatch. I turned and said: "Nice board man". He stopped and thanked me and we struck up a small conversation. I told him that when I was his age, modern trucks and polymer wheels were a relatively new invention. I went on to tell him about my fiberglass board with the hula girl motif and that designs were on top of, rather than underneath boards in my day. I asked him, as his friends approached, if there were any skate parks around. "One on The Commons, but it's lame" he said. I replied: "Would be nice to have a big park - I saw one on TV in the midwest that looked awesome - full of tubes, ramps and rails", I replied. I spent the next 10 minutes talking to these kids about skateboards, tail draggers and alternate uses for skateboard tape. I made a half-assed attempt at a cool handshake with the kid on the skateboard, but the last thing he said was "take care"...Perhaps there is hope....