People who stage elaborate public ambush proposals of marriage in sports stadiums, using airplanes and other instrumentalities are inherently unethical, as well as narcissistic jerks who warrant embarrassing rejections but never get them. This figures, since the women have been dating these tools and are usually jerks themselves. Few such stunts are quite as audacious in their jerkishness as that planned and executed by Vidal Valladares, 24, who shut down the Gulf Freeway, one of the busiest thoroughfares in Houston, to propose to Michelle Wycoff, 23, in the middle of the highway. The Houston Chronicle, local TV station KTRK and other media outlets treated the stunt with a sympathetic “Awww!”—Ain’t love grand? Who could criticize these love birds, who, but for the vagueries of moral luck, could have caused one or more accidents and death and destruction, hopefully just to them and not innocent commuters, but you never know.
Reportedly traffic was stopped for less than a minute as Valladares got down on bended knee to propose (to his ex-wife whom he divorced in June) while the automobiles waited. “I never really thought about causing an accident,” Valladares told a local paper. “I thought about my girlfriend.”
Awww!
How romantic!
You’re an idiot.
The Harris County District Attorney’s Office is charging the couple with “obstruction of highway, a Class B misdemeanor.
Good.
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Pointer, Source, and Graphic: Houston Press
Ethics Alarms 
Asssholes!! As if it isn’t bad enough that driving is the single most dangerous everyday activity we engage in on a daily basis, entirely preventable danger, we’ve got jerks like this ratcheting it up a notch. Too bad they won’t do a year or to for this.
A bit of redundancy in that comment.
It’s a good thing this didn’t occur in a State that actively encourages it’s people to pack heat– someone would probably have just started shooting.
Since your opinion of gun owners is such that you believe that they would decide to shoot at people for annoying them rather than only as a last resort in self-defense, can I count on your vote the next time gun control comes up?
You can absolutely count on me to vote for gun control measures as espoused by the state in question. I will avidly advocate for other states to also adopt the responsible, adequate and appropriate levels of firearms limitations that this state compels.
Most eloquently stated, sir. My congratulations.
I liked that one, too.
I’m behind you 100%.
Somehow it makes it worse that this is a second time around.
How many more idiocies can the people of Houston expect from this couple?
How does a person, an individual, stop traffic on a highway, even for only a minute? (Never mind why.) In Houston? Those Houston freeways are terrifying. I can’t believe a jerk on crotch rocket didn’t blast through at over a hundred miles an hour and kill both of these idiots.
Given Harris County Sheriff’s Department’s reputation, I’m rather curious as to how they avoided getting shot out of hand…especially on the Gulf Freeway.
Huh? Harris County Sheriff Department’s reputation? What reputation? For the most part, they have cleaned up their proverbial act.
jvb
Haven’t had to deal with them in a number of years. They once had the reputation of being…gunslingers. If that has changed, I apologize to them.
No worries. Police mostly take a big hit on the chin for the bad ones in their midst. (I almost spelled that as ‘mist’. Whew. Typo narrowly avoided.)
The Sheriff’s Department doesn’t patrol within the Houston city limits ordinarily. They’ve also improved quite a bit since Adrian Garcia resigned to run for mayor. (Thankfully, that odious creep didn’t make the runoff!) Ron Hickman, a serving Precinct Constable, was appointed to serve Garcia’s remaining term, acting immediately to cut down the huge overhead and case backlog that his predecessor had amassed.
And filming a proposal on the PIERCE ELEVATED?! In the daytime, too? How did that happen? I use that stretch of road several times a week. I can only assume it was done early on a Sunday morning. Even then, there would have been a real risk involved. In fact, that was the same area of the inner lane where I encountered someone driving the wrong way once. At night! Some drunken jerk must have gone up the Allen Parkway exit to do something like that. Boy, did I think fast to dodge that guy. I hope HPD responded quickly to my 911 call.
Driving the Elevated is an adventure even without idiots trying to woo female idiots who get lured to one of the most dangerous stretches of roadway in Houston!
Agreed, Stvplln. Adrian Garcia got obliterated in this election cycle, which is sweet justice. He should have paid a huge political price for leaving an inmate unattended for almost six months. Here is a link to the story:
http://abc7chicago.com/news/inmate-allegedly-left-in-cell-for-weeks-amid-bugs-trash-feces/330618/
As for the sweet couple, the Harris County DA’s office has charged the gallant young man with obstruction of a freeway. His response is brilliant:
“I never really thought about causing an accident. I thought about my girlfriend,”
http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Couple-who-blocked-traffic-with-marriage-proposal-6700521.php
jvb
Exactly. The jerk only thought about proposing and, likely enough, the publicity he would get from doing it in the middle of Houston’s most extensively traveled roadway. I also have to wonder if that girl was somehow lured up there or whether it was a staged collusion FOR the publicity. If so, it seems to have backfired! Happy honeymoon, lovebirds.
Good for the DA. It’s about time someone brought these narcissistic couples back down to earth. Social media makes this crap bad enough, with one couple having a friend take 80+ pictures of their proposal and then setting them all to “This Will Be An Everlasting Love” and another using their pet pug as a prop with a heart shaped sign attached to its collar that said “my humans are getting married.” Excuse me while I retch.
This kind of garbage, where they make others a captive audience to their idiocy and create danger in the hopes of getting what? Applause? Validation? is too often excused by stupid romantic platitudes. Not sure if it’s the Woody Allen excuse of “the heart wants what it wants” or a variation of that like “love trumps all,” meaning where the love of two people is involved all rules are suspended.
The people who do this kind of crap will be the same people who will post 10,000 gooey sweet nothings on their significant other’s wall, make out while waiters wait to take their order, and get all defensive if others suggest they MIGHT want to dial it back a stop or two at least in public. Glad these will have a nice fine to show for their idiocy.
I’m not sure how a heart shaped sign on a pug or series of photos set to music are comparable or worth criticism here. Stopping traffic (what if there was a kidney being transported?) is unethical because of the consequences. Being gooey romantic isn’t unethical, just annoying for those not in wuv with the target.
Correct, a much lower level of annoying. Still annoying. I guess I jumped from that to this ridiculously dangerous level of behavior and wasn’t clear.
When the whole world surrounds you, anything is justifiable.
Obama knows!
My mind boggles at the idiocy some people engage in for a few moments of fame. This guy proposed to his ex-wife at an extremely busy part of I-45, just south of downtown Houston because she said it was the most beautiful view of downtown (it actually is quite an impressive view of the city), just before rush (Rush?) hour, and backed up traffic for approximately 45 minutes. The DA has declined to charge the fiance because she did not know about it.
The guy concocted this plan with a bunch of this friends, who used their cars to block all of the traffic lanes so that he could make his romantic, different marriage proposal, which she accepted. As Forrest Gump says, “Stupid is as stupid does”. The local news shows fawned over the romantic intentions, dismissing the concerns of those inconvenienced. How sweet.
I am not even sure that this guy had any clue about the consequences of his actions. I would declare them to be unethical but this even gives unethical conduct a bad name.
jvb
In the late ’90s I attended a concert where the guy got up the scenario to propose – with knowledge and encouragement from the artist – only to be rejected by his girlfriend in front of a packed arena. The level of awkwardness was well worth the price of admission (and I had paid good money for front row tickets).
Good for her!
Priceless! That would have been the perfect time to yell out a Nelson Muntz “Ha, Ha!”
I hope if they have any children, they are not dumb enough to let them play in the street. I know–hope springs eternal.
You accidently put “not” in that statement. Glad to help.