Thursday, November 29, 2012

The Time I Googled Indecent Exposure


Courtesy of Mama Kat’s Prompts this week, here is the one I chose.

4.) Tell us about the last thing you Google searched…what did you learn?

Please don’t judge me based on what I’m going to tell you. I had reasons.

I was writing a piece of fiction yesterday (not my forte) set in the mid-80’s, a time I happen to know quite well. I was living the Yuppie (Young Urban Professional) lifestyle in the City (Chicago, not New York) and the livin’ was “easy” if you know what I mean. The 80’s were all about MTV, rock music, smashing Disco records and carefree lifestyles, among other things.

But I needed some additional facts to support my plotline.

My question was…

If someone were caught in a park in various stages of undress, doing something that should probably (should be) done in a place of privacy, what, most likely, might the legal ramifications for them be?

Of course, I turned to Google and typed in:

“Is having sex in a park illegal”

The answer is YES. It is called “indecent exposure”.

Then, I wanted to find out what it meant exactly and legally.

So I Googled:

“indecent exposure”

I discovered it’s a Class A Misdemeanor and would require a court appearance more than likely. I also found out if you get caught three times indecently exposed, it becomes a Class A Felony. Apparently, some people don’t learn their lesson the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd times. Otherwise, why would there be a law for it?

Having the facts, I began writing.

Only later did it occur to me that “Big Brother” tracks these kinds of searches, doesn’t he? Someone might think I’m contemplating doing the nasty in a park somewhere. Or worse that I did do something extremely inappropriate (which I never do by the way) and had reason for concern. 


There are some alternative, and scary, definitions for the term which have nothing to do with what I was doing. Was I going to get spammed by raunchy stuff like the time years ago when I, seemingly forever, got "enlarge your penis" emails? 

It boiled down to me beginning to worry about my search history. It’s not like I was surfing for porn but it kind of felt that way and it reminded me of the time about 6 years ago when I saw “naked boobs” in Google history. Hubby was not the culprit; he doesn’t have to Google them. My recently turned teen turned out to be the mortified yet naive criminal that time.

I was worried something similar would happen to me.

So I erased all search history from yesterday. It is a good thing because my husband sat down at the computer last night to do some Internet shopping.

I was NOT in the mood to explain anything. 


Mama’s Losin’ It

28 comments:

christina said...

HYSTERICAL! and i love love love love love love love that you've clarified your FICTION with this. :) i need to clarify my piece, too, because you know how people are- they see Fiction but they're like "oh yeah right, Christina's a skank and writing the truth." ;)

DEZMOND said...

there's nothing more relaxing than a nice little naughty Google search LOL

Gina said...

I just burst out laughing at "oh yeah right, Christina's a skank." Actually, I'm still laughing as I type. I don't know what or who people think I am but I'm fairly straight laced in general. Rarely and only with certain people does the funk come out. My blog is NOT one of those places.

Your FICTION came across loud and clear at the top of your post. Yet you wonder...what kind of place did she have to go for this...not too far? Just kidding. I loved yours A LOT!!!

Gina said...

Naughty, Dez!!! ;-)

Classic NYer said...

And what exactly is wrong with contemplating doing the nasty in a park somewhere? You're married, after all, right? What's the point of being married, if you can't engage in a little indecent exposure every so often?

(Personally I wouldn't though; there are places where grass and leaves shouldn't go.)

Stopped by from Mama Kat's. :-)

Gina said...

Nothing wrong with it at all. And I never said I hadn't partaken in certain parklike activities. It was the crazy 80's after all. I just happen to be the kind of person who would probably get caught. Then I'd be an embarrassment to my children ;-)

(That's what the blanket is for)

Thanks for stopping by!

Kenya G. Johnson said...

LOL!!! One time I google handy woman images - something I wanted to use in a post. I had to quickly slam down the lid of my laptop because Christopher was in the room. Off the subject and about "naked boobs", I chose the movie Airplane for us to look at on Netflix. Pretty much the first scene was a lady walking through security and the screen showing naked boobs. Humph! No why wouldn't you think that Airplane was PG? I guess I just forgot it had "parts" in it.

Gina said...

I'm NOT going to google it but what the heck came up from "handy woman". You'd have thought a woman with a hammer? Well, I might be able to twist it up and figure it out. That was on tv this past weekend but I didn't watch it with the family so I don't remember that. Oh, I very much remember it is NOT PG. It's hilarious...for grown up audiences. Just wait until the teen years with boys. They are fascinated with that stuff.

Kenya G. Johnson said...

Yeah that's all I remember - that it was funny. And I've obviously only seen the cut tv versions. As for the handy woman - you know how you can dress up as a french maid etc, well lets just say there were a few dressed up as a handy woman ;-)

Gina said...

Oh. Gotcha! Who would have thought there'd be a naughty costume like that. Learned something!

Jamie Miles said...

Lord women -- if "indecent exposure" is all you've got I'm sure your in the clear (with the government, maybe not your hubby). How to make a bomb, how to lace an letter with what was that substance from a while back people were finding on stuff? Lords knows I'm not going to Google it. Ha.

Samantha Brinn Merel said...

I wonder about search history all the time! Also, it's kind of creepy when I sign into my gmail account, and the ads around my inbox are all related to recent emails I have sent or received. Big brother is watching...

Stacie @ Snaps and Bits said...

Haha, I love this! I use google a lot for my fiction. I'm kind of anal about not misstating things. But that can be a real time sink. Keep up with the speakeasy, no matter what you have to search!

Gina said...

Anthrax! No. I will not be googling that. Everything I search for is pretty benign. Hubby even more so, at least at home. He works with a bunch of crude guys at the exchange. Who knows what they do there. I know they watch a lot of tv, talk on the phone and google stuff for their amusement. They better be careful of BB!

Ginny Marie said...

I google things a lot too when I'm writing, and I never thought about this! I guess I'm usually writing about plants and other fascinating stuff. ;) I have cleared my history every so often! Now I need to read your fiction!

Gina said...

I hadn't in a while until I started thinking yesterday. I AGREE! It's spooky. I almost feel violated.

Gina said...

I would do that too if I wrote more fiction. I like proper details when I'm reading stuff. I get sucked in by youtube, blogs and stumble upon (which my daughter warned me I would be). I will keep up with it. It feels stretchy. And I need some stretching in my life right now as far as writing is concerned. The rest I'm pleased to have quiet for a bit.

Gina said...

I was told today that my fiction seems to be centered on romantic encounters and sex scenes. I not sure about that but is it a bad thing? Who doesn't like romance and sensual stuff? I should, however, watch what I google if those scenes take a different turn. That might get really uncomfortable ;-)

Jack said...

I have thought about what could happen if my searches were cataloged and revealed. It wouldn't be hard to make them look "nefarious" or benign.

I'd rather not have some conversations because the search is meaningless and helps to provide context for things I am curious about and or interested in using for writing.

But sometimes people see things and can't help but wonder about why you are looking up XYZ.

Azara said...

Haha! I've had some unfortunate experiences related to search terms, most memorably before I knew enough to clear the history. NOT a pretty scene.

Kinley Dane said...

You are so cute and so funny :) I think Indecent Exposure is about as tame a thing that you can google, as far as naughty things go :) And, oh, your poor son! I can't imagine how embarrassed he was!

Ginny Marie said...

Oh, I don't think it's a bad thing at all! I love your fiction! And look at one of the best sellers right now...50 Shades has gotten a lot of attention!

Gina said...

Thank you, Ginny. I don't think romance in any form goes out of style. Maybe that's just me but I don't think so.

Gina said...

Well I certainly know why my son was looking up naked boobs but I search stuff all the time for a million reasons. I don't know why it popped into my mind. But since my brain is always rattling on about something, why not this!

Gina said...

Oh no! See! That's what I'm talking about. My stuff is innocent but people may construe.

Gina said...

I'm happy you think that, Kianwi! It is rather innocent. I just don't want to be spammed by all that nasty stuff. He was mortified because he had a friend over showing him stuff. I'm certain it wasn't the last time ;-)

KatBouska said...

Haha! I think your blog post did a great job of explaining your reasons! Maybe next time you can just link your husband to your post and be done with it. ;)

Gina said...

Well my husband doesn't read my blog so I'm left 'splaining ;-)