[gabrielthomas]

Today morning I had to go to my local Police Station to submit some documents related to my wife's passport background check. As soon as I went inside and met the PC who was supposed to recieve the documents, he had a look at me and started screaming at me. Any guesses why he screamed at me? I was wearing a knee length shorts and a T shirt. My dress was offending to him it seems. He started saying "Do you go to your office in this kind of a dress? This is also an office why have you come like this? Don't you have a pant to wear at home?" It was early morning for me and I was in a total sleepy mood so I was not able to realize what was happening. I was like "??!!"

He further started saying "Perhaps your dad and mom did not grow you up with principles or may be your manager did not teach you all this" - An Corporate manager will teach how to dress when you go to a Police Station??!!

He may be having a great sense of attachment towards his duty and his place of work, but a Police Station is a place where public come and go how can they expect them to come in a uniform. I also agree its their office, so they expect some discipline, I'm ready to abide by their rules and dress appropriately when i go there next time, but what rights does he have to say about my upbringing, how does this relate to my upbringing? its seriously very offending.

The most irritating stuff was, I was unable to speak anything back. First, I was greatly shocked to hear this kind of a comment, secondly as every one knows, If I had spoken something back, my wife's passport would never ever reach her(this is my thought, please feel to correct).

At the end of it, I'm a tax payer who has been taught how to dress when we go to a police station that too at the cost of assasinating my parent's disciplined upbringing.


I'm really sorry for posting some rant almost every friday, but it does seem to happen to me every friday!! and please excuse me if this is the most silliest post you have come across. I feel so offended after having faced it

Mods: I knew this thread is not related to this forum, as this is the most sought after forum, I thought of getting some attention, that is why i posted this here. Please, Please feel free to move to the appropriate section as required.

[john doe]

He must have just given his son a lecture on how to dress and his son answered rudely back!
So you got the same lecture, but you could not answer back:-)

[saket77]

Just a case of frustrated at home officer. It's a police station for god's sake, not a corporate and there will be people with all types of attire. Even a poor rickshaw wala too. Do they expect him to wear a suit too?

I know it is difficult to scream back at them at it may cost you the passport, but then will they clear you file without taking any money? Tell them that this culture is not there in corporate.

Just chill man...either he was taking out his frustration of some other issue on you, or just a pressure tactic to make some extra money for the passport. Good that you did not scream back that I work in an MNC and earn much more than you! This might have given him a hint that you can afford to pay much more.

[latentpotential]

He probably was venting his anger generated by another source on to you, perhaps you had just an unfortunate time of entry. On the other hand you could have told him how popular dhotis and lungis are in India, and how shorts are a modification of the same.

[Mr_Bean]

I was in the same situation 2 year ago, I renewed my passport through tatkal (using Annexure F document), it was time for house verification after I received it. One fine day, a chap (completely drunk) from the nearby police station visited my house, I wasn't there at that time and my father sensing that he was drunk did not entertain him into the house and was a bit rude, understandable though.

The next day I went to the police station enquiring about the passport verification, I was told to come in the evening at 7 PM. I was there before 7 PM and waited till 8:30 PM, but there was no sign of the verification officer.

I was told to come again tomorrow , this went on for 2 more days. Finally I got to meet him, here is how the conversation went:
Me - Sir, my passport requires verification, handed over a copy of all the documents I submitted earlier to the PSK.
Chap - [did not utter a word] where is your ration card? How can I verify without ration card?
Me - Sir, These were the documents demanded by PSK. I had produced annexure F
Chap - Annexure F is easy to get , last month a senior officer issued annexure F to two srilankan tamil LTTE's and he went to jail

I think I sensed the situation well, I had no other choice but to keep 200/- INR in the passport.
He did not speak anything further, the case was closed.

I was furious at him for coming home drunk, but my hands were literally tied and I could not vent my anger.

[Cyborg]

Hi Gabriel,

Firstly, it is in very poor taste for the guy to speak to you like that! You should have retaliated and reminded him about his manners. I also do not agree with the excuse of him removing his frustrations regarding some other issue - that's his problem not yours. His job is a very cushy one (the one at the station who does the verification) so there is absolutely no reason for being rude. He has no power to do anything in a verification case except delay sending the papers to the CID office.

I feel you should go back to the police station, meet the station in charge and complain regarding the uncouth manner in which you were spoken to (do wear the same clothes you were wearing in the morning). It is because people in your position do not say anything, these kind of people get encouraged to do it further. In fact if you complain to the senior officer, this person will not dare to delay your wife's paper processing.

Its your call on what you choose to do at the end of the day.

Have a good weekend pal.

Cheers

[ghodlur]

IMO instead of being a mute spectator to the ranting, the OP should have calmly explained it to the officer about the situation and asked for the reason of rant directed to him. Because his wife's passport was at stake becoming a punch bag is not called for. Atleast not from BHPians who are known to stand for truth. I would have appreciated if the OP would have made a formal complaint against the officer instead of just feeling offended. Let the authorities know that this kind of behaviour inspite of being under any pressure towards common man is uncalled for.

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by gabrielthomas

...At the end of it, I'm a tax payer who has been taught how to dress when we go to a police station that too at the cost of assasinating my parent's disciplined upbringing...

Sh*t happens! It wasn't your fault. As said, there could be multiple reasons behind it - having a bad day at home, frustrated with someone / something or a pressure tactics for extorting money.

You did good by NOT responding. Now you may write a detailed mail to the in-charge of the station about the "accusations". This also will mean that this guy will be extra careful in processing the application as he doesn't have a choice NOT to.

Edit:: Having said this, I would NOT dare to go to a police station in shorts! It's more to do with projecting a "decent" impression.

[svsantosh]

Originally Posted by gabrielthomas

..... Any guesses why he screamed at me? I was wearing a knee length shorts and a T shirt.....

1st Thing I saw was your place of residence of your handle - Chennai!!

I am a fellow-tamilian from Hosur.

Around Apr-may13 I walked into Hosur P.S for same passport work in my reebok knee length shorts and a Tee, and received the same feedback from the S.I. He was kind enough (may be because of the grey hairs on my head?!) to advice me saying "sir, we are here for few more hours, please go and come back in a proper shirt/pant attire". Thats it, I frankly didnt even bother to read into his statement, until now.

1) Do theives/rapists commit crime in reebok shorts/tees!!

2) Or do people in shirts/pants never do any wrong?!

3) Most/All temples around TamilNadu/Kerala belt "Physically" stop you if are spotted in a LUNGI (Google up), reason they give is lungi is a 'bedroom' attire (go figure!) and considered dirty for a temple.

4) Madurai Meenakshi Temple (again google for it) has CLEAR SIGNS spelling out "FOREIGNERS NOT ALLOWED INSIDE" - duh, how different are they from Indians, may be they eat beef, ok... so? Same foreigners are charged a BOMB to view the Jallikattu (bull fight) held in outskirts of Madurai each january (tamil residents can relate to this point) - What absurd hypocrisy!!

5) These things amount to harrassment and if police dept themselves resort to this, where can we go and complain!!

[ani_meher]

In lighter vein, OP should have told the police he was from the RSS, and this was their weekend attire

Sorry OP, sometimes I too get pissed by the sight of dudes wearing half pants in malls and on roads, as if whole world is their home and they have right to roam around in whatever they wish to wear. Still, it doesn't give me right to shout at them! You can either take up this matter with seniors at the station, or better you can forget about it and continue with your life.

[Sommos]

Extremely sorry man that you had a shock early in the morning but please don't take it seriously. Your character or upbringing does not change if someone tells something offensive to you. The fact that you maintained your cool itself tells about your nature and upbringing and you do not need a further certificate from the constable.

The police has a fixed time limit within which they have to return the verification form and I think it is 30/60 days maximum. If the verification form is not returned within this time limit is deemed to be approval from their side. And secondly it would require a lot of courage from their side to give a negative feedback without proper documentation.

Remember "All is well that ends well".

[gabrielthomas]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

IMO instead of being a mute spectator to the ranting, the OP should have calmly explained it to the officer about the situation and asked for the reason of rant directed to him. Because his wife's passport was at stake becoming a punch bag is not called for. Atleast not from BHPians who are known to stand for truth. I would have appreciated if the OP would have made a formal complaint against the officer instead of just feeling offended. Let the authorities know that this kind of behaviour inspite of being under any pressure towards common man is uncalled for.

The reason was (actually i know its silly and idiotic) - I was feeling very tired and moreover I was at a loss of words as I seriously did not know how to respond to a situation i never expected. One thing which I saw was, the SI of the station left when i entered inside and there was just another constable apart from this guy. So not sure if I would be in a position to complain to anyone at that point of time.

In lighter vein, OP should have told the police he was from the RSS, and this was their weekend attire

Sorry OP,

Originally Posted by ani_meher

sometimes I too get pissed by the sight of dudes wearing half pants in malls and on roads, as if whole world is their home and they have right to roam around in whatever they wish to wear. Still, it doesn't give me right to shout at them! You can either take up this matter with seniors at the station, or better you can forget about it and continue with your life.

Actually its their right right? as long as its not offending or disturbing in public. Considering the climate of Chennai, I always prefer to wear half pants and a T Shirt.

Thank you so much for the comforting and supportive comments guys. I knew I could always depend on my TBHP family. I actually forgot to mention the nicer part.

He never took any money!

[::CMS::]

Ha Ha atleast you had some clothes. What about the dress codes when they ask the thieves or culprits to remove their clothes or is that station belongs to some ideal police stations where all are treated like "kings"? Was he expecting you to be "dressed in that former dress code"?

[dass]

Here is what I would have done.

I would have reacted exactly the same as you did, say nothing, listen and come back.
Wait for the passport to be received.
Take a box of sweets, not too costly or from one of the local shops and go meet the same guy and hand over the sweets and thank him for passing the documents. Wait till he eats the sweets & Then tell him the story of the incident above and tell him, the same could have been told in a better way.

May not be the most ideal way to deal with it, but at least he will remember the sweet and every time he eats another sweet he probably remember this incident and that MAY change him.

Ps- I am just a working professional and all the above are just my ASSUMPTIONS. if anyone decides to follow this, they are doing so at their own risk.

[Dieseldunk]

Though the lecture and family pulling is uncalled. Since it was a police station are we going a bit hard or what. Will we accept if a road check happens and the cop is in shorts. Probably no. Attire is critical for the educated. Let us not equate to an rickshaw puller or auto wallah for attire since we do not equate on other things with them. They may have a real economic reason for being so but not us. Will any of us go for an interview or visit the consulate in shorts and t shirt then we can take this further.