Bela Kosoian, 38, is a handrail felon. The mother of two was taking an escalator down to the Montreal subway on her way to Université du Québec à Montreal, where she studies international law. She ended up handcuffed and held in a small cell for not holding the handrail on the escalator.
A subway cop spotted Kosoian’s dangerous descent into crime around 5:30 pm and told her to hold the handrail. The Georgia-born Canadian did not hear or respond to the first instruction. The officer told her again and she replied, “I don’t have three hands.” The officer demanded identification and Kosoian argued with him. The officer then handcuffed and confined her. She then was given a $100 ticket for the handrail violation and a $320 ticket for obstruction.
This bizarre story sounds all too familiar for D.C. residents given the recent arrest of a school girl for eating french fries on the subway. It is part of a general trend toward the criminalization of conduct in America, including a not just public transportation but public schools.
For the full story, click here.
You all afraid of Germs? Well come on to Alaska, very few germs and we generally eat what we shoot. Come on. I hear that they have mosquito spray somewhere in New Hampshire about 20,000 rounds to be exact.
Just send it over here. We teach our children young about sex and safe shooting.
Queen
You wrote: **To quote the article:
As for fears of catching another flu, a leading germ expert says you are more likely to fall down an escalator than catch illness from a handrail. “No matter how dirty your hands become, all you have to do to avoid getting ill is wash your hands,” said Dr. Philip Tierno, the author of The Secret Life of Germs.
Silly me – I had no idea Montreal subways were equipped with sinks to wash your hands after holding onto a grimy handrail.**
I don’t touch most handrails either unless fear drives me to do so. I have this thing about heights. I kind of have to hang on to the Foggy Bottom metro stop handrail…. it’s just too steep but most mall escalators are within my ability to tough it out. I don’t usually press the buttons on elevators unless I am alone and I never touch public bathroom door knobs. I don’t think I’m OCD or anything, but since I started keeping my hands in my pockets and away from my face and using paper towels to open bathroom doors I haven’t gotten sick. Yup. three years without a cold or the flu. I also stay away from the malls between thanksgiving and super bowl sunday. It isn’t that I avoid the public, but public behavior can be so unseemly.
Anyway, that’s what stuff like Purell was invented for, those times when hot soapy water is scarce. It’s relatively inexpensive and fits nicely in my handbags.
The woman said she was looking for the fare in her backpack and didn’t want to hold onto the handrail anyway because she feared catching an illness.
To quote the article:
As for fears of catching another flu, a leading germ expert says you are more likely to fall down an escalator than catch illness from a handrail. “No matter how dirty your hands become, all you have to do to avoid getting ill is wash your hands,” said Dr. Philip Tierno, the author of The Secret Life of Germs.
Silly me – I had no idea Montreal subways were equipped with sinks to wash your hands after holding onto a grimy handrail.
I have quit touching any hand rails ever since I saw a woman leave the restroom at the mall without washing her hands. She had also stood in front of the mirror and blew her nose, checked her makeup, then left!! She then walked down the stairs, moving her disgusting hand all down the handrail. I wanted to throw up as I watched her get in line to order a meal from McDonalds in the food court.
Who does that stuff? Apparently, some people do!!
Well at least we gave up on the ideal of having to pay Poll Taxes and Landownership in order to vote? Now lookie what they want us to do.
You know, R.I. Can still own slaves?
Here is another gem for you all to digest.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/18/AR2009051800966.html?hpid=topnews
Well this should be interesting reading for you all today,for I could think of no better place for this to be posted.Enjoy,I think.
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/05/25/090525fa_fact_toobin?currentPage=all
Et tu, Canada?
Somewhere John Stuart Mill is livid.
Escalator handrails, shopping carts and door opening devices (knobs, bars, handles, etal.) are about the most germ-laden things with which we come into contact. With folks’ attention on H1N1, it’s little wonder why a person would avoid touching them. Then there’s the whole issue of the Gestapo cop!
Cop must be Louis de Funes or whoever. May those who judge be judged.
Are you sure that this didn’t happen in Texas? This sounds like the Texas type justice that we normally read about here on Prof. Turley’s blog. Remind to use the stairs the next time I am in Montreal.
Ah Ha, I knew it, the French are at it again. No French Fries on the Subway. Would it have been different if they had been American Fries?
Are we speaking of an American born Georgian? If so, they don’t understand good French anyway. If we are speaking of a Former USSR Georgian? Then do we have a problem with communication.
The question boils down to most people are to obey the lawful commands of a police officer. Defenses are impossibility, such as I did not hear or see you or understand you.
I am sure they have a video that will disappear, which would exonerate our “sister in law.”