I've debated whether I should even post this but ... well ... here goes ...
A few years ago GC and I were coming home from a late lunch ... ahhh, the joys of being married to a man who works the night shift ... Anyway, it was in August, and it was over 100F that day ... we turned the corner off Council and there at the end our block laid a guy. Curled up under the street sign, in the blazing sun. Seriously. GC could have left him there. He could have called OCPD and left it to them. After all, his normal routine was to take a nap before he goes in. 13 hour shifts suck. They suck worse when you are an old fart.
Instead of making a phone call and laying down, GC went in the house, put his uniform on, got in his patrol car and drove down to the end of the block. He gathered up the VERY drunk fella, who had pissed and vomited all over himself, put him in the patrol car and took him up to the mental health place. By the time he got back home he had just enough time to clean up his car, gather up his dinner to take to work and leave.
GC says it wasn't that big of a deal -- he was just doing what anyone would have done. That's another thing I love about the man ... even with all he's seen in the last 25 years, and all the crap people have said ... and done ... to him just because he wears that uniform ... he still thinks that people are worth saving ...
Btw, the guy came by the house a few days later. Said thank you and that he was sure GC had saved his life. Also said that he'd decided he needed to make some changes and that was, in no small part because he was well aware that GC could have taken him to jail but, that instead, he'd taken him to the hospital. I don't know what became of the guy but I do know that every single man and woman I've met over the years, whether they were with a city department, a county sheriff or in LE with the state in some capacity, has had the same moral compass my husband does. These men and women do NOT get into LE for money and/or fame ... or for a power trip. They do it because they think they can make a difference.
Unfortunately for them (the officers) and for the rest of us, too, that change is rarely ever noticed by anyone except those directly affected. But then, again, we all know how biased I am ...
A few years ago GC and I were coming home from a late lunch ... ahhh, the joys of being married to a man who works the night shift ... Anyway, it was in August, and it was over 100F that day ... we turned the corner off Council and there at the end our block laid a guy. Curled up under the street sign, in the blazing sun. Seriously. GC could have left him there. He could have called OCPD and left it to them. After all, his normal routine was to take a nap before he goes in. 13 hour shifts suck. They suck worse when you are an old fart.
Instead of making a phone call and laying down, GC went in the house, put his uniform on, got in his patrol car and drove down to the end of the block. He gathered up the VERY drunk fella, who had pissed and vomited all over himself, put him in the patrol car and took him up to the mental health place. By the time he got back home he had just enough time to clean up his car, gather up his dinner to take to work and leave.
GC says it wasn't that big of a deal -- he was just doing what anyone would have done. That's another thing I love about the man ... even with all he's seen in the last 25 years, and all the crap people have said ... and done ... to him just because he wears that uniform ... he still thinks that people are worth saving ...
Btw, the guy came by the house a few days later. Said thank you and that he was sure GC had saved his life. Also said that he'd decided he needed to make some changes and that was, in no small part because he was well aware that GC could have taken him to jail but, that instead, he'd taken him to the hospital. I don't know what became of the guy but I do know that every single man and woman I've met over the years, whether they were with a city department, a county sheriff or in LE with the state in some capacity, has had the same moral compass my husband does. These men and women do NOT get into LE for money and/or fame ... or for a power trip. They do it because they think they can make a difference.
Unfortunately for them (the officers) and for the rest of us, too, that change is rarely ever noticed by anyone except those directly affected. But then, again, we all know how biased I am ...
