GreatWhiteLlama
Regular Member
imported post
After polishing off the last of my beer, I decide to walk up to the Shell station by my house to pickup a 6 pack of Mirror Pond. About 3 minutes into my walk I see a young Hispanic child running in my direction without anyone with him. I stop him and ask where is parents are to which he starts replying in Spanish. With my Spanish being limited to barely being able to order food I try and simplify it by asking him, “where is mommy”? He seems to understand this and points in the opposite direction from where he was running. After a brief exchange of trying to determine if in fact he was running towards his home or away from it, and hoping to use up enough time to where some sort of parental figure would show up, I decide that he needs to turn around and head back to where he thinks his home is.
After almost walking ‘Ismael’ all of the way back to his apartments, a BPD car rolls up beside us to ask if he was with me. I told the officer “no” and that the child said he lived up here somewhere. She then gives my sidearm a second ‘long’ look and then pulls up to the child. The BPD officer gets out of her car and starts asking Ismael where he lived. I look up the street and see a 30 something Hispanic male running towards us to which I figure must be his father. As the father figure approaches the officer says to me, “I respect open carry, but just keep it holstered”. (?!?) (lol)
After berating the father for awhile and writing up her report, the officer asks me for my ID and phone number. Knowing this was for her report, I had no intention of denying her, (besides, she was cute ) Before she sends me on my way, she tells the father to thank me for seeing his son home. The father hesitates and tries to say that his English isn’t very good. This pisses the officer off to no end to which she replies, “Hey! I’ve seen what happens when the other types of people find children! You will thank him!” This seems to click with him as he finally makes eye contact with me and says “thank you”. I simply shake his hand and say, “as my sister always says, if they’re out of earshot, they’ve gone too far”. I then head back home.
What surprised me the most was that on my way back, at almost the exact spot that I confronted Ismael, the cute BPD officer calls me. Unfortunately there was a lot of traffic going down 140[sup]th[/sup] at the time but what I was able to gather was she was asking me why I chose to OC. I told her that the main reason was because it was more comfortable. During the winter I typically CC but during the summer, wearing shorts and a T-shirt, I print something awful and feel like I’m hiding something. When I OC, I’m not hiding anything from anyone, there’s no chance of misinterpretation. Besides, criminals don’t OC.
Of course she gives her police academy response of, “if other people see it, blah blah blah”. I told her that I’ve been OC’ing for years now and most people don’t even notice, they simply think it’s a PDA. Those that do notice will do a ‘double take’ and then continue on with there business. She then asks me if I was a part of the group that “protested” at the Bellevue Park. ( ) I told her that I frequented a forum that discussed such things but I did not attend. We exchanged a few other pleasantries and then ended the conversation.
All in all, this was the most eventful walk to the store I’ve had in a while. I’m not sure how much this has to do with OC as a whole but I thought I’d write it down anyway for you amusement.
P.S.
There was of course more to the story, but after my 5[sup]th[/sup] Mirror Pond, the details are escaping me =D
After polishing off the last of my beer, I decide to walk up to the Shell station by my house to pickup a 6 pack of Mirror Pond. About 3 minutes into my walk I see a young Hispanic child running in my direction without anyone with him. I stop him and ask where is parents are to which he starts replying in Spanish. With my Spanish being limited to barely being able to order food I try and simplify it by asking him, “where is mommy”? He seems to understand this and points in the opposite direction from where he was running. After a brief exchange of trying to determine if in fact he was running towards his home or away from it, and hoping to use up enough time to where some sort of parental figure would show up, I decide that he needs to turn around and head back to where he thinks his home is.
After almost walking ‘Ismael’ all of the way back to his apartments, a BPD car rolls up beside us to ask if he was with me. I told the officer “no” and that the child said he lived up here somewhere. She then gives my sidearm a second ‘long’ look and then pulls up to the child. The BPD officer gets out of her car and starts asking Ismael where he lived. I look up the street and see a 30 something Hispanic male running towards us to which I figure must be his father. As the father figure approaches the officer says to me, “I respect open carry, but just keep it holstered”. (?!?) (lol)
After berating the father for awhile and writing up her report, the officer asks me for my ID and phone number. Knowing this was for her report, I had no intention of denying her, (besides, she was cute ) Before she sends me on my way, she tells the father to thank me for seeing his son home. The father hesitates and tries to say that his English isn’t very good. This pisses the officer off to no end to which she replies, “Hey! I’ve seen what happens when the other types of people find children! You will thank him!” This seems to click with him as he finally makes eye contact with me and says “thank you”. I simply shake his hand and say, “as my sister always says, if they’re out of earshot, they’ve gone too far”. I then head back home.
What surprised me the most was that on my way back, at almost the exact spot that I confronted Ismael, the cute BPD officer calls me. Unfortunately there was a lot of traffic going down 140[sup]th[/sup] at the time but what I was able to gather was she was asking me why I chose to OC. I told her that the main reason was because it was more comfortable. During the winter I typically CC but during the summer, wearing shorts and a T-shirt, I print something awful and feel like I’m hiding something. When I OC, I’m not hiding anything from anyone, there’s no chance of misinterpretation. Besides, criminals don’t OC.
Of course she gives her police academy response of, “if other people see it, blah blah blah”. I told her that I’ve been OC’ing for years now and most people don’t even notice, they simply think it’s a PDA. Those that do notice will do a ‘double take’ and then continue on with there business. She then asks me if I was a part of the group that “protested” at the Bellevue Park. ( ) I told her that I frequented a forum that discussed such things but I did not attend. We exchanged a few other pleasantries and then ended the conversation.
All in all, this was the most eventful walk to the store I’ve had in a while. I’m not sure how much this has to do with OC as a whole but I thought I’d write it down anyway for you amusement.
P.S.
There was of course more to the story, but after my 5[sup]th[/sup] Mirror Pond, the details are escaping me =D