The Squamidian Report – Aug. 6 / 16
 
Issue #741

Including:
The Ontarion

Hi All,

I could have never been a cop. And I mean that on so many levels. I've just finished reading the revised version of 'Memoirs of a 50's Cop' by Russell Brubacher, which by the way, if you have a chance to read it, please do so. Uncle Russ is quite a man, has lived quite a life and is to be both respected and admired. It becomes very clear just how hard it must have been to endure walking that foot beat at a time when Cops were expected to never be hot, cold, tired, hungry and so on. It must have been scary to have to perform the duties of a police officer without adequate training. I guess back then real men just did it, no questions asked. I know I sure couldn't have just done it. I could have never worked within the militaristic culture that I assume still dictates how a police force works. I'd have dropped out after about 2 days. I could have never worked within a system where orders are to be followed without question, where rank means power and where even the legal system questions every move a Cop does and every word a Cop says. I simply wouldn't have what it takes. Somehow Russ did and perhaps against the grain managed to move forward and upward. I truly applaud him. While I know I could never have done it, and could ever have met the physical qualifications, for a while back in my early adult life there was a part of me that had might have wanted to be a Cop. Just as well I couldn't or didn't because I would not have lasted very long. I could not have been a 'bad' Cop let alone a 'good' Cop.

Back when I and my friends were coming out of high school we all knew a few guys who  joined the Kitchener police force or one of the small county forces that were around back then. A lot of them were the bully type who saw that profession as a way of being paid to push people around, especially the people they had hung out with while in school. I don't think they lasted too long on the force but I'm sure there was and always will be that type on person making a career out of law enforcement. There would also have been some who enlisted with the highest of intentions, the desire to help people, to make a difference. I hope they did well.

I know that as a kid in my late teens I hated the members of the traffic division. Those officers always seemed to have a desire to pull us over, hassle us and so on just because we were dumb kids doing dumb stuff while behind the wheel of a car or while sitting on a motorcycle. It never occurred to us that just maybe, they were actually trying to save us from ourselves. At least some of them might have been, not too sure about the occasional one we ran into. There were a few who, like the guys I went to school with, were just plain bullies and enjoyed their authority over us. I will always remember one hot summer evening when I was out cruising on my nice new 1969 Royal Enfield motorcycle. As I came down King St I became aware of police lights coming up fast behind me. As I pulled over to the side, so did the Cop on the police bike. He was a very big intimidating person and started ordering me around like some army sergeant might do to a raw cadet. He informed me that I had been riding my motorcycle at very high speed, weaving through city traffic and so on. It was his intention to, as he put it, “lock me up”. I had no idea what to do or say. Whenever I tried to explain that I had simply been riding along King St, minding my own business and driving properly, he would tell me that if I argued with him, I'd end up in jail for sure and that he'd personally throw away the key. Eventually, after issuing me a speeding ticket for doing 15 over the limit, he told me to get out of there and to never let him see me again. Now, I know for a fact that I wasn't speeding but it was the word of a dumb scared kid against a mountain of a man in a uniform who as far as I knew, had the power to put me on some chain gang and leave me there.

Its been decades now since any police officer has even noticed me and thats how most people go through most of their lives. Thats a good thing. I don't even get their attention when I'm out on my big old Harley. I probably could if I did something stupid but doing something stupid would be, well, stupid. I know I sure don't envy the local RCMP that must patrol this highway out here. Between distracted commuters and bumbling tourists all trying to get somewhere in a hurry, it must be a nightmare for them. Day or night, any kind of weather, they must respond to every conceivable incident. And as Russ points out in his book, they are never hot, cold, tired, wet, hungry or in need of a bathroom. Next time you see a police officer, a Cop so to speak, give him or her a nod to show respect. They deserve it. And as Russ points out in his book, the term 'Cop' is not derogatory. It stands for constable on patrol.

Lastly and with nothing that I know of to do with police officers, my blueberry season is pretty well over. Not 'the' blueberry season as in the berries turning up in the stores and fruit stands, but as in the berries that come from my little patch out back. I had a pretty good crop this year. Lots of rain so they didn't dry up and the local birds didn't have to depend on my crop for their survival, but not really enough sunshine to let the berries sweeten up fully. But, they were good while they lasted. There's still a small hand full to pick each day for the next week or so but thats just enough to eat on the spot. Kind of a silly thing happened as I was picking the last full bowl worth the other day. As I stood in the patch trying to reach a few berries near the back, against the deck, unknown to me, a very big, ripe, juicy berry dislodged from the bush and somehow dropped into my back pocket. I didn't know about it until I reached into said pocket to retrieve some loose change that needed retrieving. My hand went in, grasped the change, and came out covered with berry goo from the now well crushed berry. Such is life.
doug
****


****

Greg and his wife are on vacation, visiting the Nashville area. Assumably, they will have a great time. Therefore, there is no Ontarion this week.
****

Have a good one..
the doug
The Fine Print!
The articles in these issues are the sole property of the persons writing them and should be respected as such.