Volatile People Really Do Disturb The Peace:

Isn't anybody afraid of the cops anymore?  Think of "Bad boys, bad boys, watcha' gunna do when they come for you?  Bad boys, bad boys."  

I sometimes watch COPS on T.V., and most of the people who get arrested try to quiet it down.  Maybe because they are on video and have also seen the show, but I also have to consider that I have never watched an episode of COPS filmed in La Pine.  

Well, settling down when the cops arrived wasn't the case in our neighborhood this evening.  A ruckus went on for far too long, when I caved in and called about the drunk guy half-dressed and full-of-rage, trying to bust into another neighbors' window, screaming his head off for the one he thought was inside the house to come out and fight with him.  Mind you, this all happened in broad daylight!  Somebody else had called before me though, because I heard a siren in their driveway immediately after I called 911.  I should have waited one just more minute.

Have you guys ever considered that maybe the 911 operators are on a power trip?  For instance, the 911 lady asked, "Was it Harvey (not his real name)?"  I said, "Well, I don't know what Harvey looks like, but the neighbors said that it was Harvey who was doing all the yelling.  Just ask the responding officers if the guy they have in custody has his shirt off."  She said, "Well, I can't see who they have arrested through the telephone!"  Duh.  But you do have a two way radio, chick.  She asked me some more questions, and I answered them, but when I tried to give MORE RELEVANT DETAILS, she would interrupt and say, "Kathy, Kathy, that is something that you will need to tell the officer when he comes to get your statement." What the heck?  Now I had to set aside time for a special interview?  I now needed to give my dogs their special treats and lock them in the laundry room so that Sonny wouldn't get loose when the police came to get my statement ... and then I'd get in trouble for THAT, I'm sure.  When I was only trying to be an proactive citizen and help.  (I worry about all kinds of scenarios, mostly totally unnecessarily.  Still, that trait of mine does come in handy for thinking up Book Blurb Friday stories.)

Well, even after the cops showed up and apprehended the half-naked guy, they were there for about 45 minutes with him in the driveway.  The suspect was very out-of-control and was actually, yes, get this, calling the police PIGS!  He was also calling the neighbor whose window he was trying break vulgar names.  The police were being thorough as they interviewed girlfriends and neighbors.  Things were taking too long to suit me, and my dogs were almost done with their bones.  I needed to act. These people were all disrupting my serenity, and the reading of my great new (second-hand) book "Midwives", so I ate a teaspoon of peanut butter to cover any smell of my glass of wine, and ventured outside to give my statement to a nice young officer.  To get my part of this over with, so that they wouldn't knocking on my door, or not, in another hour.  He was like, now, who are you?  It seems as if I am always the "Oh, great, another country heard from" participant in the crowd.

They finally hauled the perp away.  In my opinion, these particular law enforcement peeps were pretty darn patient.  I exchanged cell phone numbers with another neighbor, just in case a similar episode should arise in the future, and went back inside for some peace and quiet.  Except for the neighbor dogs who will probably be barking all night long, because their father got mad at them too, and is currently in jail.

All's well that ends well, I suppose.  Now I'm going to get back to reading my book ... cuz it's a good one!

Hope your night was quieter than mine.  

~ Kathy 

If you miss a day, you miss a lot!  Don't miss out on the news ... Please click here to go to my home page and see what is happening in Mayberry today.