In today’s installment of “I Kid You Not”, 42 year old Donald Pirone was cuffed and cited when he handed a fellow passenger who was having difficulty with a subway token one of his, and the person responded by handing him the $1.75 that a token costs.

The most telling part of the story?

As for the handcuffs, [Transit authority spokesperson] Baker said the officer felt they were necessary.

“Our officers do that for their own safety,” Baker said.

Hey officers, here’s an idea: you’ll be a lot safer if you don’t piss people off by citing them for performing a courteous act. I think if he tried to cite me in similar circumstances, he damned well better cuff me for his safety.

I had a cop pull me over for failure to wear a safety belt. Yes, it’s the law, yes, I should have been wearing one. He seemed kind of surprised that I would be angry at his attempt to save my life. I patiently pointed out that he could have done that quite simply without charging me for the warning.

That apparently never occurred to him.