Being Unreasonable

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Yeah, it sounds like the tow truck driver wasn't all there - may have had some kind of mental disorder? I offer that because almost anyone who can sort up from down would give exception to a situation from that. To tell the truth it almost sounds aspie'ish.

Letting my retail background show a bit more, I think one thing that has exacerbated the problem is the way that customer service is handled. People learned that businesses would bend over backwards for them if they threatened to take their money elsewhere, and took advantage. Over time, as businesses wised up, customers have learned that they have to go further and further off the deep end to get something for free, or a discount, or their money back on an obviously used product, etc. I think this "squeaky wheel" mentality has infected society, and now people feel entitled to getting their way by throwing public temper tantrums. Call it "Nordstrom Syndrome", there is currently no downside, the worst that can happen is the would-be victim of this behavior says no to whatever is being demanded. It also seems to be sort of a dominance thing, if the tantrum is refused the person throwing it seems to view this as some sort of challenge and escalates, like street kids killing each other over minor disrespect. Again, this throws things all out of whack in that the "decent" people, who are unwilling to lower themselves through this sort of bad behavior, are being punished at the expense of those who are.

Sounds like the guy wanted to get paid for the job he was hired to do.

What you are describing is a kind of Gresham's Law of behavior which is a deep cultural problem. Those who find ways to evade and distort civil behavior force others to behave the same way and gradually destroy society. Society can, through childhood indoctrination, create a social ambiance where civil behavior is encouraged but this is a two edged sword. Much innovative and usefully creative behavior can come from people who see the faults in too much social control and violate it. This usually gives them a tough life but frequently, when the unsocial behavior is not outright violence and criminal, society is modified and benefits.

...he was working on commission. That means the more he tows, the more he makes. If he doesn't tow, he doesn't eat. I'm not defending him in the slightest, I've been ripped off many a time by tow truck drivers.

I do hope the woman is ok, tho.

Its still interfering in a criminal investigation, and the cop should have claimed he had to impound the car as evidence. Bit of initiative never hurts. It can even save lives. There is something odd about American police.. they can and will tazer you into the floor for arguing with them, but will allow someone to be utterly obtuse with them and do nothing about it.

Police officers do not have a general right to confiscate and dispose of property, so I do not see how the officer could legally take the car as evidence then hand it back to the woman. I think the woman probably preferred to pay up to one hundred and sixty dollars rather than wait until the case against her assailant had progressed through the justice system (the soonest she could have gotten the car back if it were taken into police custody as evidence in the case against the assailant).

As for the towie, what business of his is it why the car was parked where it was? If the community believes one should not have their car towed while either escaping from a violent assailant, or trying to contact law enforcement agencies to come to their assistant in the event of being assaulted, then the community can enact this standard into law. Is the towie supposed to fob off his landlord, pay his kids' school fees or get groceries with some sorry-arsed story about a woman parking her car in the wrong place while trying to escape an assailant? Would anyone in this thread employed in retail accept this story in lieu of legal tender for the exchange of goods? I doubt it.

This happened in a capitalist society, during tough economic times. I strongly suspect that the towie's actions, as 'not nice' as they might be, constitute a response of the kind we can expect more of until the economy improves. For we all we know this guy was one tow away from having to burn his house down to rid himself of the mortgage. In an economy premised on capitalist/market mentality, where there are few supports for those who fall on hard-times, when times get hard, so do people. Maybe this bloke is an all-time jerk, or maybe he has hungry kids depending on him and no certainty that he can adequately feed them this week - I suspect in tough economic times, people are more cautious about where they park, and if no one is prepared to park illegally, how is a towie to earn a crust?