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Culture War Roundup for the week of January 5, 2026

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I suspect she never got The Talk. I got it in Driver's Ed class: if you're ever stopped by police, keep your hands at 10 and 2 on the wheel, and be polite: "Good [time of day] officer, what seems to be the problem?". You can disagree politely, but you're not going to win any arguments at that point: if you do well, a lawyer can get things tossed out later, though.

Of course, I'm not sure women normally get that one.

I've never even heard of this as being a special thing that is taught.

So you know how it's popular on Instagram to post about how women are taught to "never let them take you to another location, piss yourself, etc." to avoid sexual assault, and men don't have an equivalent of that? This is that equivalent.

I was taught- stay in your vehicle, be polite, let them know if you have a gun but otherwise say nothing except direct answers to questions with no further details. Do not let them search your vehicle without a warrant.

I'm a white 40yo male who grew up in a middle class CA suburb. It was explicitly taught to me in school that if a police officer pulls you over and you put your hands out of view, you will be shot (because you could be reaching for a gun).

Same, couple of years younger. Is how to deal with a police stop not a standard part of driver's ed elsewhere? I was literally tested on this in order to get my license.

Should it have to be?

I dont think I ever had that officially instructed to me in some class. Just something you pick up on from family and relatives in addition to being intuitively obvious.

The part about being polite, no I guess not. But the thing about the hand positions sounds strange to me. I guess it's because guns are so common in the United States. Here in Canada, it's not really something anyone ever worries about because they're largely illegal.

I'm guessing you grew up in a place or social/economic milieu where people didn't have many violent interactions with cops. It's very common for e.g. responsible black parents to teach their kids that lesson.

I guess not. According to this there have been six police officers deliberately killed on duty in my province of one million people. Two in my lifetime and about one every few decades. The latest one was relatively recent in 2020 because we had a mass shooting, which is very unusual.

I never went to no drivers' ed class, but I'm not being "polite" to a police officer who is openly trying to charge me with something. The police are owed nothing from the citizens who pay their salaries. And ICE are not even police.

  • -19

Are you trying to win a Darwin Award?

I agree with him on being polite to people who are trying to punish me, and it's gotten me in trouble. But I never tried to run them over and I'd fully expect them to shoot me if I did.