Originally posted by RICHARD L. I had a few encounters with weirdos over the years I visited the American Southwest (from 1978 to the present), but always in California. I drive a Dodge Grand Caravan with a Quebec license plate. The "motto" on the plate (Je me souviens) is written in French and means "I remember" (the British brutal invasion and treatment of our French ancestors in 1759). Nobody seems to have ever seen a Quebec plate before and nobody knows where Quebec is.
I was once taking pictures of a beautiful sunset over the Salton Sea, parked safely along US Route 111, when a US Border Patrol truck stopped and the Officer asked somewhat abruptly what I was doing there. He thought my van was sporting a Mexican plate as it was not written in English and he was checking I was not doing or planning any bad deed. I answered I was taking pictures of a nice sunset. I had to show him my images on the digital camera screen and, after I showed him my Canadian passport, he seemed confused. He had no idea Quebec was a part of Canada and I'm not sure he knew where Canada was. What are they learning in High School geography lessons ?
Regards
We have no shortage of weirdos in the California desert either, that's for sure. I just have gotten lucky here. I don't know why all my encounters with angry weirdos have been in Arizona, but it's especially weird when you consider that 98% of my photography has been in California.
I've met up with police in California while doing night photography, and it's always been pleasant. They just wonder what I'm doing and then keep going.
Similar to your story, I was pulled over in Missouri once. The guy gave me a ticket for going five miles over the speed limit on a highway. As he was giving me the ticket, he produced the wrong side, and said, "Well, that's not gonna work. This here's written in Mexican." Um, yeah. And I'm sure he thought he was speaking in "American".