I Love the Constabulary/Meeting an Old Friend

I'd been thinking about this since Saturday night, but of course I'm just posting about it now.

While doing the standby at the Parsippany Carnival, I ran into an old friend. He's not old, about 35 or so, but one of the few people I've known since I was a teenager. That is something for me. I left school feeling very distanced from the others I went there with and did not feel nostalgic about being a kid. I still don't. Getting through school was torturous. It turns out that this person I met from hanging out with someone else in school, but he did not go to school with me. I think we met in a bowling alley... of course, this was about 25 years ago... so I could very easily be mistaken - my memory being what it isn't.

Brian did not at all like me at first - he was very jealous that I was taking his friend Kip away. Kip was a misfit in school, as was I. But in my junoir year I met Holly, and we became friends. She introduced me to Kip, who introduced me to Andy and Brian. And maybe a couple of others, too, but these were the main people. Kip was sweet on me, I can't imagine why, but he was - and I hooked up briefly with Andy. Mostly, though, we remained friends. Once I graduated, though, I lost touch with most people. Kip and I remained in touch for a fairly long time, through letters and the occasional visit (he had joined the Navy immediately after graduation).

Kip got married to a woman twice his age and easily five times his weight. He was never truly overweight but she was grossly overweight. Not that this is the worst thing... call it a combination of things. Uneducated, uncouth, and came to my house as though shopping at a bazaar. It was amazing. I reached the point where I informed him I was cutting off ties. I have to admit that sometimes I wonder what he's up to, but mostly I would say the decision had some merits. Still... I suppose were I to hear from him, I would accept an e-mail friendship.

However, I remember Brian well and spending time with him when we were a lot younger. Seeing him now is amazing. When we were kids, I was slender and he was a chubby kid. He was nice, though, and once the initial jealousy was done, we got on rather well. I even was invited to a couple of family events.

We ran into each other a long time ago again, maybe ten-fifteen years ago. He looked totally different, tall, fit, and confident. We were never that confident in our younger years. I couldn't get over it. And on and off at different things we ran into each other - mostly notably now at township things - he is on District 6 and I am with Car 66 so we sometimes see each other at events.

And there he was, talking to one of the cops by District 5's pumper.

I loved talking to him again. You don't always realise how much you miss someone until you see them again. We laughed and chatted about the past. He said that when he was younger (a lot younger) he had a crush on me! I have to admit, that on thinking about it, I remember suspecting it. However, there is nothing as flattering - in a very wonderful way - as hearing that. I was delighted. I love that. There is something very morale boosting about hearing that.

Brian is witty, intelligent and honest. And he was in the service and is now a Sergeant. It's hard not to brag about that, and of course, you know how much I love 1. cops and 2. men in uniform. I don't have designs on Brian. And the love of cops is not a sexual thing (I am not sure why people think that). The men in uniform has a sexual component but isn't only that. And so we come to the "I Love the Constabulary" part of this.

My parents - my mother and both fathers - installed a very strong feeling that the police are your friends and champions. That is as it should be. One should always feel that any kind of trouble can be ameliorated by the police. Any time you are in trouble, these are the people who can help you. Certainly the few times I'd spoken with police, I found that to be true. Even the police who've pulled me over have been good if not great. I've gotten tickets, but I've taken my lumps because they were right. Speeding is not really an arguable thing. And when I had my accident in 2001, I found out up close and personally how truly wonderful the police are. You can refer to my posting about it for that whole story. (You'd better love to read - it is LONG.)

The police were great. And now I work closely with them both in a professional (paid) capacity and as a volunteer. I have a lot of respect for the insanity that they deal with. Someone should - it seems like people often either take the police for granted or just consider them to be bad for their illegal lives (which is as it should be).