I'd take that offer of coffee and bring home-made bread. You'd like it, I hope.
... no one can fight every battle.
KC, I've been fighting these battles all my adult life -- or, rather, and more truthfully, ducking them.
I don't have my own business because I wasn't going to deal with the bureaucratic bullsht. Not the right sink, not the right oven, health inspection, OSHA compliance. Okay, not.
I had to fight the gawdamn county just to build a garage on my own property -- the Health Dept. bitch threatened to shut off the power to my house if I didn't jump through her hoops, and I had to appeal to the State for permission to not termite treat a totally steel and concrete-composite structure, to do an end-run around the County.
I don't fly because I'll get arrested in the airport, if not just for the look on my face, but for refusing to have my rights to my person and personal effects violated. So, I drive, at an inconvenience and with great anger.
I've been ticketed for a bullsht violation by a bullsht cop, went to Court and had the judge upbraid me because of the look on my face while he bought the liar's version.
I've been stopped by a faux Homeland Security "officer" for driving around their bullsht "no passing on the right" traffic gawdamn rules, a situation the DOT set up during road "construction", and I played that. That won't happen again.
I can't deposit or withdraw my own money from my own bank account without being tracked and reported.
I had to get government permission to exercise my 2A right to be armed.
I have a shower head that spits water on my mid-back length hair and a toilet that needs coaxing to deal with the Crohn's results.
I moved out of my parents' home at nineteen because I was more than ready to be an adult, to make decisions and accept the consequences. And I have.
There's probably at least a hundred other incidents forgotten in the drift of time that's my almost sixty years -- probably no more and no less than your average American -- and, yes, I'm yelling, I'M DONE.
Now, we all do what we gotta do. And this regards the rest.
Home made bread? I haven't had that since I was a child. I consider myself a good cook, but not a very good baker. My bread could be a boat anchor.
I'll have some good, real butter to go with. Do you like cream and sugar?
Regarding the OP. I didn't mean to imply I would submit; I would just be nice. Police officers can get ornery when their authority is questioned. If their stated purpose in pulling me over was for a survey, I would decline the survey and attempt to give them no cause to throw their weight around. IOW, they'd have nothing on me, not even disorderly conduct.
The question I did not see asked was, who the heck are federal contractors? Are they law enforcement? And who is paying the state police to pull people over for those contractors? These are questions that I would want to stay out of jail in order to ask them with credibility.
Moving along to your mini rant.
I hear you. We had a small business in the 90's and finally closed shop because of the regulations and taxes...the constant headaches and demands of the State and the Federal agencies who had to take such a big piece of the pie that there was none left to truly profit.
We've given up the purchase of property in both Colorado and Texas because of the (I call it shady) small print in contracts concerning environmental studies and restrictions.
I can and will, as time goes by rant about all of the other krap the government dishes out expecting us to not only eat it, but thank them for the privilege of doing so!
I've seen comments about this happening in Texas and Arizona, and how people are surprised that Texans would comply.
In defense of my home State. We have a lot of "outsiders" here because of the oil boom. Not only that, it was Houston. Geez! everyone knows all the idiots live in Houston and Austin.
BTW, I don't fly either. For your stated reasons.
And I don't even want to talk about trouble with my toilet. It's been in this house since 1959, I refuse to get the new ones because, well, if I have to flush three times it sure won't be because the tank only holds four ounces of water....