With cops away, it’s like Capitol Hill is slipping back to the Pinkerton’s era

Re:With cops away, it’s like Capitol Hill is slipping back t... by yardie on Sunday July 12, 2020 @10:51PM (#23816713)

Similar happened to me in Morocco. Parked in a public park. Guy came over and told me it was 20 dirham. I Argued with him a little bit pointing out it’s a public parking lot and there is no meter. Spouse told me to pay the man or he may cause trouble. I relented thinking of the damage he could cause to our rental. He did guard our car and stopped traffic.

Police were prevalent, just setting up speed traps and shaking down tourists.

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Re:With cops away, it’s like Capitol Hill is slipping back t... by hnick on Sunday July 12, 2020 @11:27PM (#23816870)

Maybe related to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baksheesh

In Egypt a decade or so ago, this was rife. There was the usual tipping, but a guy at the airport wanted a tip for telling me it was OK to use a public toilet. Watching cars is another common one, and it's appreciated of course but the implicit threat of damage is not. Offering to carry bags through the express security line in the airport was another strange one.

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Re:With cops away, it’s like Capitol Hill is slipping back t... by X6S1x6Okd1st on Sunday July 12, 2020 @11:29PM (#23816875)

I had that happen in Capetown. It was cheap enough I was happy to pay the guy and be done with it. I'd feel differently if I was local, but I also obviously looked like a tourist, had an American accept etc.

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Re:With cops away, it’s like Capitol Hill is slipping back t... by 6nf on Sunday July 12, 2020 @11:51PM (#23816986)

This is everywhere in South Africa. It annoys people but it's not worth making a fuss over. It's clearly extortion but it's so widespread for so many years that it's de-facto legal.

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