Policyjny bilard-czyli wybór koloru auta (w ingliż narzeczu)

[karol]

(z forum www.mx-5.com)
The belief that red cars get ticketed more often for speeding has led to the development of an urban legend about police officers adapting the billiards game of snooker to their work:
[Healey & Glanvill, 1996]

A friend of a friend was determined to find a career where he could serve the public, be a useful member of society and make something of himself.

But he joined the police force instead. Breezing through the basic training, he quickly found himself 'partnered' with an old hand on traffic control.

They had a cracking Range Rover jam sandwich to cruise around in and the new rozzer was thoroughly enjoying the work. There was only
one problem - his partner. He naturally respected his senior's experience, but some of his operational decisions were questionable, to say the least.

One day they were peacefully poised on a ramp by the motorway hard shoulder when the rookie spotted a flagrant abuse of Her Majesty's speed regulations. He eagerly pointed out the culprit.

The older man simply looked up, screwed his eyes, shrugged, and carried on reading his paper. This happened four or five times before the older cop set off in hot pursuit and pulled an offender in a red car.

This chain of events recurred throughout their shift: the older man ignoring some offenders and booking others seemingly on a whim. The lad initially kept his own counsel, but when his superior pulled yet another red car, he could take no more.

'Now l-look,' quavered the youngster, slamming down a Biro symbolically. 'Just what do you think you're blimming well playing at?' 'Snooker,' came the sharp reply. 'First you stop a red car, one point. Then a black car - that's seven - and so on until after 15 reds we go on to the colours. Every force in the country plays it.' And then, flicking shut the youngster's gawping mouth, he added: 'I got a maximum 147 break last week.'

BBC News offered the following tongue-in-cheek advice to motorists looking to avoid being bagged in the non-existent game of highway snooker:

1) Don't drive red cars - because there are 15 reds on a snooker table, the reds are much more likely to get potted.

2) Similarly, don't drive black cars. Although they may look sleek, stylish, moody and expensive, earning seven points makes them the top target.

3) It's probably not a good idea to drive pink cars either. Not only are they high scorers, but the chances of looking sleek, stylish, moody or expensive are slim.

4) If you don't have a red car, you should still be wary. Driving behind them could make you liable for a swift one-two, with you both being "potted" in swift succession.

5) In the rules of the game, yellow, green and brown should be fairly safe bets, as they are low scoring. Getting a bad position after a red might give a playing officer no choice, though.

6) White cars are safest of all. Police cars, being white, act as the cue ball in the game. So if a white car is booked, it is tantamount to a foul and will count as four points away.

Luckily for all concerned, the BBC then redeemed itself by proffering this emminently sensible suggestion: "Simplest of all, and surely the advice straight-faced coppers would give, is don't speed and you won't be caught."

[Barbara "unsnookered" Mikkelson]

[pawel]

dobre