Day 53 - Howard and Don the Policemen

Image by TimoOK, via Flickr

During my last year of high school, I worked at the only movie theatre in town. It was downtown, on the main road through the business district, just down the street from the police station. Two policemen were responsible for the downtown beat. They didn't get in cars and ride around the downtown. They walked, carrying night sticks and flashlights.  I think they call it community policing these days.

During the winter, walking downtown after dark could get very cold. So the two policemen assigned to the beat would stop in at the theatre to warm up. They probably stopped in at several other businesses along the street as well.  I think they call that community policing, too. They were Howard and Don.

Howard and Don introduced themselves to those of us who worked there: Sandy who sold tickets, Marshall and Paul who took tickets, Mary who sold candy and popcorn, and Lynne and I who were ushers. Howard and Don made sure they came in after the movie had started so there were no patrons in the lobby who might wonder why the police were in the theatre.

One day as Howard and Don hung around at the candy counter, Don was playing with an oversized coin, flipping it over in his hand and holding it between his fingers as he tapped on the counter with it. When Mary asked what the coin was, Don said it was nothing and then put the coin in his pocket. Ever the literal-minded one, I didn't give it a second thought. After all, Don said it was nothing, so I accepted that it was nothing. But the two of them had a pretty good idea of human nature so when Mary kept asking, Don eventually took it out of his pocket and handed it to her. On one side it said "100% effective birth control device." On the other side it said, "Place coin on one knee, cross over with other knee and press hard to keep in place." Everyone laughed. Ha, ha, very funny. We didn't know much about what was inappropriate behavior, especially from someone in authority. And they were policemen, so they could be trusted, right?

Over time, Howard and Don ended up moving through the ranks so that they no longer had to walk the beat. I moved on to a new job. I saw Don driving a police car occasionally, and he usually honked the horn and waved. I waved back. After all, he was a policeman and he could be trusted, right?

Life in my hometown was really quite safe, even for a young girl walking alone at night. My family's house was close to one of the two college campuses in town, so there frequently were young people walking along streets in the evening. One evening, I was doing just that - walking alone in my neighborhood. I was probably no more than three blocks from home, less than five minutes from being inside the door and upstairs, in my room, tucked away safely in bed. I saw a police car coming toward me and when the car slowed down, I saw Don was the driver. These were days when local police did not ride around in pairs - no partners for community policing. Don stopped the car and asked me if I needed or wanted a ride home. I didn't need a ride, but it seemed fine to accept the ride, so I got into the police car, in the front seat, and he drove me the three blocks home and dropped me off in front of my house. After all, Don was a policeman so I could trust him, right?

The next day Mom asked me why I got a ride home in a police car. I don't think I had told her about the ride, so she must have heard from someone else and asked me in order to learn if there was something she should worry about. I explained that the policeman was one of those who used to stop in at the theatre during the winter so I knew him, and he had offered me a ride home. She accepted that answer, because after all, we all trusted policemen in those days, expecting them to be there to protect us. But she did say that if I ever got a ride home from a policeman friend again, I should ask to be let off at the corner so that the police car didn't drive down our street.