a new tribulation in job hunting

so i'm sitting outside the local PUBLIC library using the free PUBLIC wi-fi to check e-mail and job boards and not one, not two, but three police cars pull up, get me out of my car, etc., etc. i tell them what i'm doing and even show them the computer screen that is open to jjobs.com and even after checking my license for warrants (there are none), one of the cops then asks if there's anything illegal in my vehicle and asks for permission to search. i tell him no since i haven't done anything wrong and they have no probable cause and to my surprise, they go about their business. geez, the things we go through to land that next gig.

 

WTF? Did they think you were a terrorist? Or surfing for child porn?

 

They probably didn't come up on you because you were just sitting there. Someone called them.

 

Texas, eh?

 

Yeah, Texas. If he had been sitting there with an AK-47 in his hands instead of a laptop, they wouldn't have bothered. Laptops using public wi fi are much more dangerous.
And yes, I live in Texas.

 

We have libraries in Texas; they just never open the doors.

 

After hours maybe? Somebody parked in front of an open library won't cause suspicion. Somebody parked in front of an otherwise empty building might.

I had the same thing happen in front of a business that sells smoothies and has free wifi. I parked in front, must have been midnight (I had worked on the rim that night), during a time I was house hunting. I needed internet to check the MLS listings and I was writing down addresses to go check out some houses so the next day I could call an agent with places that interested me.

Well, these two cops pull up next to me, thinking I'm casing the joint...

 

He's been banned, ever since a little something the locals call "The Trenchcoat Incident".

 

i was sitting in my vehicle because i was smoking a cigarette (another danger of smoking, i guess) and it happened just before i made the original post at about 8:45 a.m. so it wasn't after-hours. and yes, they said a library employee had called in a "suspicious" person. but three cops and then wanting to search my vehicle? that's a bit overkill.

and that whole trenchcoat incident was cleared up.

 

Had a similar experience last football season.
I covered a game at Really Rural High and then a made 20-minute drive to Rural High, which has free wi-fi. I pulled into the parking lot, got out of my truck, dropped the tailgate and went to work under a street light.
The cleaning crew inside the school - this is about 11:00 or so, sees me and calls the cops.
State trooper who lives on the hill behind the school comes down to check on me - just as a I finish sending my story. He's pretty informal. I show him my ID, tell him who I am and what I am doing.
He said cleaning folks saw me and got suspicious.
He got in has car and left and I went on my way.
I can understand the suspicion.
Another time (recently), I was taking pictures of a government building for a story and a cop pulled over beside me and asked what I was doing.

The asking to search your car was a little over the top.

 

I'm guessing they were thinking child porn. And with summer they wonder if you're watching the kiddies going in and out of the building.