- Joined
- Dec 6, 2012
- Messages
- 5,521
Thanks Todd and Murph for all your hard work on some beautiful knives. I love my Tradewater tremendously and think about you two every time I go to use it.
Here’s the best T-day situation I have ever experienced:
Thanksgiving Day, 1997
At this time in my life, I was still young, and had no real experience dealing with problems. I had a basic set of problem solving skills which, coming from a four year stint in US Army Infantry, amounted to a two-step process in dealing with problems. Step 1: See the enemy. Step 2: Kill the enemy.
Now that you know my simplicity in dealing with matters, imagine me, a rookie cop with less than 2 months on the job. I knew nothing about being a cop, and less about being in the heart of people personal problems. The town I worked in was a small town, and, if you all know small towns you know that everyone (so they always claim) knows everyone or is related to someone important. In small towns; politics, who you know and regional values all come into play in just about every situation.
I’m working day shift, which means that on Thanksgiving Day, in a small town there is a skeleton crew on duty. In my particular case, on this day, there really wasn’t so much a skeleton as it was just a couple of bones. My backup was about 15 minutes away, the one sheriffs’ deputy on duty in the county.
That morning I had no calls. I had spent my time that morning running a little radar (basically just listening to the whine of the radar and not making stops), and just driving around (being seen). Around lunchtime I got a call to pick up lunch for the jail. Now it’s mid-afternoon, right in the heart of gorging time. Still being a rookie I didn’t expect much to go on. I had about 4 hours to go on the shift and then I could enjoy my Thanksgiving dinner at home. I started to get relaxed in the notion that nothing would happen.
Just then in comes a call. A domestic dispute is in progress at a residence in a part of the town where “everything” happens. Now remember I am alone here. The dispatch relays they will call the deputy to come back me up. Me being young and still headstrong, I elect to go into the situation alone. I do this with the knowledge that my backup is in route and he’s running code (lights and siren) to get to me. As I go to the residence the dispatcher is still feeding me info about the situation. Something about the man is gonna kill the woman. I barely hear this as I am now at Mach 27 and my hair is on fire.
I get there and call out I am on the scene. Now anyone reading this story would expect to see all hell breaking loose on the front lawn, and that’s what I half expected driving there, but we all know, real life doesn’t work in such obvious terms. The house looked quiet…which, to a more experienced officer is a scary thing. I park, get out and approach. I try to use my infantry training here and approach from an oblique angle, but the houses are close together, fenced in back yards, cars in the driveways, so it’s really me just taking a less than direct route to the call…..ok, you might even go as so far as to say I’m stalling here, which…was the case. I get up next to the house; the front door is only a few feet away. I hear nothing from inside…..even scarier. I think, do I go knock and make contact, or do I just wait for backup? I stall longer but it’s not working. I’ve got to get the call started and done with so I can go back to my boredom. At this point, the silence from inside is deafening to me, I elect to stir things up and knock.
I approach and knock. I do not have my gun out but my hand is close and I am cautious. The door flies open and there stands one of the biggest people I have ever seen in my entire life, he’s annoyed when he sees the uniform. This guy just looks like he spends every minute of his waking life annoyed and arguing…if not beating the shit out of people just because he’s got the size to. It’s my worst nightmare fulfilled at this moment. “I’m going to get my ass beat today,” I start thinking. He says, “What the f&^% you want cop?” Yep, it is gonna be a hard day for me.
I haphazardly introduce myself and tell him why I am there. Upon hearing this, the guy turns around and says, “Why’d you call the cops?” At this point I can see inside the house and I notice that they were right in the middle of the t-day meal. People are seated around the table and female who at this point is just inside the door behind the man. I am a bit weird-ed out at this because I expected to see signs of World War 3 inside but there were none that I could discern from the view.
The man and woman start bickering about something but I remember my training and quickly make myself the center of the conversation by interrupting them. The guy looks at me with the, “Yep, you’re gonna get your ass beat today” look. I shrug it off because I already know it’s inevitable, and focus on the woman.
I ask if I can come inside to talk about this. This is a rookie mistake…..you might be hearing that phrase from the movie Apocalypse Now at this moment, “Never get out of the boat?” For cops, it’s never go into unfamiliar territory, “Never go inside if you don’t have to.” The guy steps aside and I come in the living room. Another thing experienced cops will do is separate the parties involved. Well, I was alone, so that luxury was not afforded to me. I ask the woman what happened and she explains that her husband threatened to kill her so she called the cops. I ask the guy if he threatened his wife. He says, “Yea.” I asked why. The guys says, “She was gonna eat my turkey leg. The last one. I wanted it so it’s mine mother f&^%$. You got a problem with that?” I didn’t answer that question, instead I countered with my own. “Would you have killed her had she not given up the turkey leg.” The guy’s annoyance now collapses into “I gotta save my ass here cause I’m about to get arrested mode” he answers, "No I’d never kill her, I was just pissed at her.” Good enough for me at this point. But, then I thought about what he said was the cause for the threat.
I was floored. The last turkey leg, really? What the? I thought this whole situation was stupid. The woman started crying and explained she thought her husband was acting like an a^%hole so she decided to call the cops to come tell him to stop. Now, I’m kind of pissed….a turkey leg?!! I caution the guy about calling me names. He resigns and sits down on the sofa. Yes, another rookie mistake, never let them into places you have not cleared previously, there might be a gun in the cushions. I redirect toward the woman.
“No other violence, did he hit you or you him?” I ask. She says her husband has never hit anyone. I think to myself, “Never hit anyone?….Holy crap, I might be able to hold my own until my backup gets here for this inevitable ass whopping that is going to occur. I might even win!! Yea!!”
I am shocked back into reality when the guy says to his wife, “Its mine bitch. I’m gonna eat it.” At this point, I realize no fight between me and Goliath is going to ensue. I broadcast a code 4 to my dispatch and I can hear them breathing the proverbial sigh of relief over the radio. I ask the woman where the turkey leg is. She guides me over to the table and shows me the turkey leg. It was in the middle of the table, not on a plate, like it had been picked up and dropped there. The rest of the family is just sitting there looking at me as I take in the scene.
I then look back at the guy and say, “You get that this is some stupid shit right?” Then I look at the woman to make sure she understood I was directing that question to her as well. The both look at me with that universal sign of “Yes, we realize you think we are idiots.” I let it sink in for a few seconds in silence.
I see there is a football game on, I can’t recall the teams and at that moment but even then I didn’t really care. I calm the scene a bit more by asking who’s winning the game. The guy tells me whose winning. I ask, “pretty good game?” The guy says, “Yeah, and I’m missing it ‘cause this bullshit.” I reply, “You said it.”
I tell everyone there that since they called the cops and I showed up, I’m obligated to file a report on the matter and seize any evidence to support the report. They all look at me like, “What the hell is going to happen?” They are scared at this point, everyone in the room. I reach down on the table grab the turkey leg and head for the door. As I walk past the guy on the couch I say. “Evidence…..Mine. Have a nice day.” I look back briefly and there is total look of shock on all the faces of the family members. I walk outside the house. No one comes after me. I am free and unbeaten. I call out over the radio that I am code 4, no arrest and am clear the scene. The dispatch gives me a 10-4, and at that point I see the deputy coming down the street to me. I meet him on the street; he pulls up next to where I’m standing. I give him a quick rundown of what happened and how I solved the situation. He says ok. As we are talking and I’m telling him the finer details, yup, you guessed it……..I’m eating the turkey leg.
That was the funniest thing that ever happened to me on a T-day. Whats makes this day even funnier is that the following year on T-day I found myself working again. I drove over to the house around the same time as last year and knocked on the door. The same guy answers, and says, “Hello Officer, how can I help you? I don’t believe anyone of us called you.” I said, “No, no one called, I just came by to get my turkey leg.” I was smiling, sort of like it was a little inside joke kind of thing. The family and even the guy all started laughing uproariously. They invited me in and I stayed for a few minutes and ate part of the turkey leg. I chalked up the visit as part of the newly instituted “community oriented policing” program. It was a good day. Never had to go back to the house after that first day for anything.
Its times like these that I am thankful for. Thankful that I had the right situations and the right decision making skills to mold me into a respectable keeper of the peace, not some run and gun a-hole with a chip on his shoulder. Thankful that these types of situations always forced me to show my humanity first which I truly believe have kept me out of the hospital or off the slab.
Happy T-day everyone. Bless you all!
Here’s the best T-day situation I have ever experienced:
Thanksgiving Day, 1997
At this time in my life, I was still young, and had no real experience dealing with problems. I had a basic set of problem solving skills which, coming from a four year stint in US Army Infantry, amounted to a two-step process in dealing with problems. Step 1: See the enemy. Step 2: Kill the enemy.
Now that you know my simplicity in dealing with matters, imagine me, a rookie cop with less than 2 months on the job. I knew nothing about being a cop, and less about being in the heart of people personal problems. The town I worked in was a small town, and, if you all know small towns you know that everyone (so they always claim) knows everyone or is related to someone important. In small towns; politics, who you know and regional values all come into play in just about every situation.
I’m working day shift, which means that on Thanksgiving Day, in a small town there is a skeleton crew on duty. In my particular case, on this day, there really wasn’t so much a skeleton as it was just a couple of bones. My backup was about 15 minutes away, the one sheriffs’ deputy on duty in the county.
That morning I had no calls. I had spent my time that morning running a little radar (basically just listening to the whine of the radar and not making stops), and just driving around (being seen). Around lunchtime I got a call to pick up lunch for the jail. Now it’s mid-afternoon, right in the heart of gorging time. Still being a rookie I didn’t expect much to go on. I had about 4 hours to go on the shift and then I could enjoy my Thanksgiving dinner at home. I started to get relaxed in the notion that nothing would happen.
Just then in comes a call. A domestic dispute is in progress at a residence in a part of the town where “everything” happens. Now remember I am alone here. The dispatch relays they will call the deputy to come back me up. Me being young and still headstrong, I elect to go into the situation alone. I do this with the knowledge that my backup is in route and he’s running code (lights and siren) to get to me. As I go to the residence the dispatcher is still feeding me info about the situation. Something about the man is gonna kill the woman. I barely hear this as I am now at Mach 27 and my hair is on fire.
I get there and call out I am on the scene. Now anyone reading this story would expect to see all hell breaking loose on the front lawn, and that’s what I half expected driving there, but we all know, real life doesn’t work in such obvious terms. The house looked quiet…which, to a more experienced officer is a scary thing. I park, get out and approach. I try to use my infantry training here and approach from an oblique angle, but the houses are close together, fenced in back yards, cars in the driveways, so it’s really me just taking a less than direct route to the call…..ok, you might even go as so far as to say I’m stalling here, which…was the case. I get up next to the house; the front door is only a few feet away. I hear nothing from inside…..even scarier. I think, do I go knock and make contact, or do I just wait for backup? I stall longer but it’s not working. I’ve got to get the call started and done with so I can go back to my boredom. At this point, the silence from inside is deafening to me, I elect to stir things up and knock.
I approach and knock. I do not have my gun out but my hand is close and I am cautious. The door flies open and there stands one of the biggest people I have ever seen in my entire life, he’s annoyed when he sees the uniform. This guy just looks like he spends every minute of his waking life annoyed and arguing…if not beating the shit out of people just because he’s got the size to. It’s my worst nightmare fulfilled at this moment. “I’m going to get my ass beat today,” I start thinking. He says, “What the f&^% you want cop?” Yep, it is gonna be a hard day for me.
I haphazardly introduce myself and tell him why I am there. Upon hearing this, the guy turns around and says, “Why’d you call the cops?” At this point I can see inside the house and I notice that they were right in the middle of the t-day meal. People are seated around the table and female who at this point is just inside the door behind the man. I am a bit weird-ed out at this because I expected to see signs of World War 3 inside but there were none that I could discern from the view.
The man and woman start bickering about something but I remember my training and quickly make myself the center of the conversation by interrupting them. The guy looks at me with the, “Yep, you’re gonna get your ass beat today” look. I shrug it off because I already know it’s inevitable, and focus on the woman.
I ask if I can come inside to talk about this. This is a rookie mistake…..you might be hearing that phrase from the movie Apocalypse Now at this moment, “Never get out of the boat?” For cops, it’s never go into unfamiliar territory, “Never go inside if you don’t have to.” The guy steps aside and I come in the living room. Another thing experienced cops will do is separate the parties involved. Well, I was alone, so that luxury was not afforded to me. I ask the woman what happened and she explains that her husband threatened to kill her so she called the cops. I ask the guy if he threatened his wife. He says, “Yea.” I asked why. The guys says, “She was gonna eat my turkey leg. The last one. I wanted it so it’s mine mother f&^%$. You got a problem with that?” I didn’t answer that question, instead I countered with my own. “Would you have killed her had she not given up the turkey leg.” The guy’s annoyance now collapses into “I gotta save my ass here cause I’m about to get arrested mode” he answers, "No I’d never kill her, I was just pissed at her.” Good enough for me at this point. But, then I thought about what he said was the cause for the threat.
I was floored. The last turkey leg, really? What the? I thought this whole situation was stupid. The woman started crying and explained she thought her husband was acting like an a^%hole so she decided to call the cops to come tell him to stop. Now, I’m kind of pissed….a turkey leg?!! I caution the guy about calling me names. He resigns and sits down on the sofa. Yes, another rookie mistake, never let them into places you have not cleared previously, there might be a gun in the cushions. I redirect toward the woman.
“No other violence, did he hit you or you him?” I ask. She says her husband has never hit anyone. I think to myself, “Never hit anyone?….Holy crap, I might be able to hold my own until my backup gets here for this inevitable ass whopping that is going to occur. I might even win!! Yea!!”
I am shocked back into reality when the guy says to his wife, “Its mine bitch. I’m gonna eat it.” At this point, I realize no fight between me and Goliath is going to ensue. I broadcast a code 4 to my dispatch and I can hear them breathing the proverbial sigh of relief over the radio. I ask the woman where the turkey leg is. She guides me over to the table and shows me the turkey leg. It was in the middle of the table, not on a plate, like it had been picked up and dropped there. The rest of the family is just sitting there looking at me as I take in the scene.
I then look back at the guy and say, “You get that this is some stupid shit right?” Then I look at the woman to make sure she understood I was directing that question to her as well. The both look at me with that universal sign of “Yes, we realize you think we are idiots.” I let it sink in for a few seconds in silence.
I see there is a football game on, I can’t recall the teams and at that moment but even then I didn’t really care. I calm the scene a bit more by asking who’s winning the game. The guy tells me whose winning. I ask, “pretty good game?” The guy says, “Yeah, and I’m missing it ‘cause this bullshit.” I reply, “You said it.”
I tell everyone there that since they called the cops and I showed up, I’m obligated to file a report on the matter and seize any evidence to support the report. They all look at me like, “What the hell is going to happen?” They are scared at this point, everyone in the room. I reach down on the table grab the turkey leg and head for the door. As I walk past the guy on the couch I say. “Evidence…..Mine. Have a nice day.” I look back briefly and there is total look of shock on all the faces of the family members. I walk outside the house. No one comes after me. I am free and unbeaten. I call out over the radio that I am code 4, no arrest and am clear the scene. The dispatch gives me a 10-4, and at that point I see the deputy coming down the street to me. I meet him on the street; he pulls up next to where I’m standing. I give him a quick rundown of what happened and how I solved the situation. He says ok. As we are talking and I’m telling him the finer details, yup, you guessed it……..I’m eating the turkey leg.
That was the funniest thing that ever happened to me on a T-day. Whats makes this day even funnier is that the following year on T-day I found myself working again. I drove over to the house around the same time as last year and knocked on the door. The same guy answers, and says, “Hello Officer, how can I help you? I don’t believe anyone of us called you.” I said, “No, no one called, I just came by to get my turkey leg.” I was smiling, sort of like it was a little inside joke kind of thing. The family and even the guy all started laughing uproariously. They invited me in and I stayed for a few minutes and ate part of the turkey leg. I chalked up the visit as part of the newly instituted “community oriented policing” program. It was a good day. Never had to go back to the house after that first day for anything.
Its times like these that I am thankful for. Thankful that I had the right situations and the right decision making skills to mold me into a respectable keeper of the peace, not some run and gun a-hole with a chip on his shoulder. Thankful that these types of situations always forced me to show my humanity first which I truly believe have kept me out of the hospital or off the slab.
Happy T-day everyone. Bless you all!
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