A football game, a general brawl between the teams after the game, a car parked in front of a critical gate, two pissed off administrators, supervisors on the cell phone, but everyone went home safe. By law enforcement standards, when you go home safe you've had a good day. So, after eighteen hours I had a good day. Went home, fell into bed, was awakened by leg cramps and hobbled around the house.
Coffee this morning, then we're off to Jena for a mini reunion of Milady's family. Then I come home this afternoon, grab a quick nap and go back to the school to work the homecoming dance. We'll be through with homecoming week and the next couple of weeks should be fairly uneventful. The game last night dashed ANY hopes the team has of making the playoffs, and honestly, they don't deserve to be in the playoffs. We should have won that game last night.
In a long career, I've never worked a general brawl between two football teams. So. last night was a first. I hope that I never have to do a repeat. There is some weird psychology in group dynamics that make people crazy when they're in a group. I detest rowdiness, and the testosterone-fueled environment of a football field, protective padding, and hurt feelings after a devastating loss are all extenuators of mayhem. I'm glad I had five stout deputies to assist me. It was nearly not enough. I was within seconds of calling for a paddy wagon and putting every adult on the field in jail. There is no excuse for brawling after a football game.
3 comments:
Ouch, NOT a good night... And yeah, if you'd locked up some folks it 'might' get their attention! Glad you made it okay though! That is what counts.
Yeah, but you would have needed a fleet of jail buses, it sounds like. I used to pull jail bus duty at riots, and know that it can get real interesting real fast.
"Party Canisters" of OC were the order of the day, and we kept about 5 of them on the bus, but the sight of the white helmets and white 42" batons on the Deputies usually had the desired effect. Flying wedges, oblique lines of march and the foot-stamping Shuffle-Step movements gave us the force-multiplier, and few ever actually challenged our lines.
"Little Beirut", yeah, that's us.
Night leg cramps. The (former) bane of my existance.
Try pinching your upper lip when the cramps start. Sounds weird, but it's free and no one has to see it. It is not necessary to pinch hard enough to cause discomfort. A friend's wife is Chinese and a "traditional" herbalist. She made me promise to try it for my attacks. It's like chicken soup. It might not help, but it certainly won't hurt. For me, it works.
You'll get a kick out of this. I paid her with a five kilo bag of jasmine rice. It cracked her up.
Gerry N.
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