When a cop “asks,” you do as requested.
Yesterday afternoon, I was in our back yard with the spouse. He was relaxing by the pond that I built for him. I was using the powerwasher and cleaning the winter’s grime and algae from the siding on our house and the decks.
It was a rather warm day. While I would like to have been out riding my motorcycle, I still have this incredibly long “honey-do” list on which I only have weekends to execute. I lost time completing home fix-it tasks when I had to take too much time off recently to allow my back to heal.
The powerwasher makes a lot of noise. I had ear protectors on. So I didn’t hear a police motorcycle arrive and park in the drive. I was in the back yard, and could not see the front.
Imagine my surprise, then, to be up on a ladder with the spray wand of the power washer and look down to see a cop talking to my spouse. What was that about?
The cop was my buddy JB. He was asking the spouse if I could go with him to help him and some of his colleagues to practice riding skills as they prepare to compete in an upcoming motorcycle police riding competition.
There I am… rather wet from hot-weather sweat and powerwasher overspray. JB looked at me and said, “[BB] said it was okay — go clean up and join us at the range to help us practice for next week.”
That was, well, sort of a cross between an “order” and a “request.” I laughed, saw my spouse wink, and agreed. Happily agreed.
JB sat with my spouse in the gazebo by the pond while I took 5 minutes to change clothes to jeans, t-shirt, and Chippewa Firefighter boots. (When around a bunch of cops, last thing that I, as a civilian, wants to do is “overboot it” by wearing Dehners and breeches, especially on such a hot day. I don’t know how JB and his colleagues can wear black uniforms in the hot sun.)
I had to ask JB to move his police motor from the driveway so that I could pull out my truck, then get my Harley out of the garage. JB sat on his motor on the street while I moved vehicles. The neighbors up and down the street all kinda looked curious. I just giggled to myself.
I rode out on my Harley, clicked the remote to shut the garage door, and off we went.
I enjoyed watching the looks on the neighbors faces to see me be met by a motorcop, then go riding off with him. Little do they know… LOL.
We had a productive practice session with JB and 5 of his colleagues for several hours. I will look forward to seeing them compete next week.
Life is short: follow orders. 🙂
