We are dedicating this
page to the friends and families of those killed or injured during the cowardly
attack on an innocent American civilian population on 9/11/01; also to the
rescue workers and volunteers who have given so much of themselves to help
during this tragedy - some have given all.
Sienne from Heart of Gold sent this one.
What Is a Cop
I took this off the Dragnet web page. The speech has meant a lot to me over the years, as I became a peace officer.
It's awkward having a cop around the house. Friends drop in, a man with a badge answers the door. The
temperature drops 20 degrees.
You throw a party and that badge gets in the way. All of a sudden, there isn't a straight man in the crowd. Everybody's a
comedian. "Don't drink too much," somebody says, "or the man with the badge will run you in." Or "How's it going, Dick
Tracey?, How many jaywalkers did you pinch today?" And then there's always the one who
wants to know how many apple you stole.
All at once you lost your first name. Yor're a cop, a flatfoot, a bull, a dick, a pig, John Law. You're the fuzz, the heat, you're
poison, you're trouble, you're bad news! They call you everything, but never a policeman.
It's not much of a life, unless you don't mind missing a Dodger game because the hotshot phone rings. Unless you LIKE working
Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, at a job that doesn't pay overtime.
Oh, the pay's adequate.... if you count your pennies, you can put your kid through college. But you better plan on seeing
Europe on your television set.
And then there's your first night on the beat. When you try to arrest a drunken prostitute in a Main Srteet bar and she rips
your new uniform to shreds. You'll buy another one... but out of your own pocket.
And you're going to rub elbows with the elite..... pimps, addicts, theives, bums, winos, girls who can't keep an address,
and men who don"t care. Liars, cheats, con men, the class of skid row.
And the heartbreak..... underfed kids, beaten kids, molested kids, lost kids, crying kids, homeless kids, hit-and-run kids,
broken arm kids, broken leg kids, broken head kids, sick kids, dying kids, dead kids. The old people nobody wants... the
reliefers, the pensioners, the ones who walk the street cold, and those who tried to
keep warm and died in a $3 room with an unventilated gas heater.
You'll walk your beat and try to pick up the pieces. Do you have real adventure in your soul? You better have. Because you're
gonna do time in a prowl car. Oh, it's going to be a thrill a minute. When you get an unknown trouble call and hit a
backyard at 2 in the morning, never knowing who'll you'll meet.... a kid with a knife, a pill-head
with a gun, or two ex-cons with nothing to lose.
And you'll have plenty of time to think. You'll draw duty in a lonely car, with nobody to talk to but the radio.
4 years in uniform and you'll have the ability, the experience and maybe the desire to be a detective. If you like to fly by
the seat of your pants, this is where you belong. For every crime thats commited, you've got 3 million suspects to choose
from. And most of the time, you'll have few facts and a lot of hunches. You'll run down
leads that dead-end on you. You'll work all night stakeouts that could last a week. You'll do leg
work until you're sure you've talked to everybody.
And paperwork? You'll write enough words in your lifetime to stock a library. You'll learn to live with doubt, anxiety,
frustration. Court decisions that tend to hinder rather than help you. Mapp, Miranda, etc. You'll learn to live with the district
attorney, testifying in court, defense attorneys, prosecuting attorneys, judges, juries, witnesses. And sometimes
your not going to be happy with the outcome.
But, there's also this; there are over 5,000 men in this city who know being a policeman is an endless, glamorless, thankless job
that's gotta be done.
I know it too, and I'm damn glad to be one of them.
What EMS, Fire and Police people have to deal with everyday... Makes one thankful we have our faithful civil servants! Thank one today!
I WANT TO TELL YOU LIES
I want to tell that little boy his Mom will be just fine I want to tell that dad we got his daughter out in time I want to tell that wife her husband will be home tonight I don't want to tell it like it is..... I want to tell them lies.
You didn't put their seat belts on, you feel you killed your kids I want to say you didn't ... but in a way, you did. You pound your fists into my chest, you're hurting so inside I want to say you'll be OK ...... I want to tell you lies.
You left chemicals within his reach and now it's in his eyes I want to say your son will see, not tell you he'll be blind. You ask me if he'll be OK, with pleading in your eyes. I want to say that yes he will ..... I want to tell you lies.
I can see you're crying as your life goes up in smoke. If you'd maintained that smoke alarm, your children may have woke. Don't grab my arm and ask me if your family is alive. Don't make me tell you they're all dead ........ I want to tell you lies.
I want to say she'll be OK, you didn't take her life. I hear you say you love her and you'd never hurt your wife. You thought you didn't drink too much, you thought that you could drive.
I don't want to say how wrong you were......
I want to tell you lies.
You only left her for a moment, it happens all the time. How could she have fallen when you thought she couldn't climb? I want to say her neck's not broke, that she will be just fine.
I don't want to say she's paralyzed........
I want to tell you lies.
I want to tell this teen his buddies didn't die in vain. Because he thought it would be cool to try and beat that train. I don't want to tell him this will haunt him all his life. I want to say that he'll forget........ I want to tell him lies
You left the cabinet open and your daughter found the gun. Now you want me to undo the damage that's been done. You tell me she's your only child, you say she's only five. I don't want to say she won't see six.......... I want to tell you lies.
He fell into the pool when you went to grab the phone. It was only for a second that you left him there alone. If you'd let the damn phone ring perhaps your boy would be alive. But I don't want to tell you that......... I want to tell you lies
The fact that you were speeding caused that car to overturn and we couldn't get them out of there before the whole thing burned. Did they suffer? Yes, they suffered, they were slowly burned alive. But I don't want to say those words........ I want to tell you lies.
But I have to tell it like it is, until my shift is through. And then the real lies begin, when I come home to you. You ask me how my day was, and I say it was just fine. I hope you understand, sometimes............ I have to tell you lies.
Dedicated to all the Police Officers, Firefighters, EMTs, Paramedics, Emergency Flight Crews, Hospital Police, Security Officers and all Civil Servants who deal with the tragedies of life and death. The saddest of all, being those that could have been prevented.
Wear your seat belts. Keep poisons, flammables, fireworks, etc., out of reach of children. Keep your smoke alarm in operating order, if you don't have one, get one. Never, ever drive if you've been drinking. Never leave your toddler unattended. Teens, be responsible drivers, obey all traffic lights, limits, warning signs and signals at RR crossings. Keep your guns locked and out of reach, buy a trigger guard. Better yet don't have one!
Am I preaching? Am I nagging? I guess I am just telling it like it is....... Or I could just tell you lies....
Please send this to everyone you know and care about, maybe it will make them think before they do something deadly!
And the next time you hear a siren in the distance, don't just say a prayer for the victims and their families. Say a prayer for the
people that face these tragedies every day and do the best they can to save someone that is loved. We never see the tears of these brave men and women, but God does. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3: 5,6)
Tears and a Smile
By Terri McPherson
As time puts space between us and September 11th, the vacuum it created in our lives is once again filling up with other thoughts and tasks. We will never forget the horror of its impact, but we must also remember the sorrow of its fallout. Sorrow that is deeper and wider than numbers and buildings, sorrow that took the most important person in the world away from someone, sorrow that we ourselves already know, or will experience one day.
A piercing reminder of that sorrow threatened the seams of my heart the other night. My husband and I were setting the dinner table and listening to NBC Nightly News on the television. The last story was an interview with a young boy who's father, a New York City Firefighter, died when the twin towers came down.
The intended point of the story was to put a smile on the boy's face by bringing him to meet the manager of the New York Yankees. The boy is a big fan of the team. What transpired was something else altogether.
When the interviewer asked the little boy if it was true that he hadn't smiled much since September 11th, the young fellow began to cry. There was a flicker on the interviewer's face, and for a split second, I thought he was going to lose his composure, but he held it together.
By this time, my husband and I were standing in the middle of the living room floor -- watching and listening. As the interviewer continued to talk, the little boy continued to cry, a soul broken cry. I sat down on the floor. My husband sat in his chair. We could do nothing else, but cry with him.
This wasn't about a hero, a firefighter who lost his life in the line of duty. This wasn't about the physical size or tangible scale of a terrible tragedy. This was about the magnitude of loss in the life of one individual -- a little boy who lost his father, a little boy who missed his dad. This was the immense proportion of sorrow that seizes every person who's ever lost a love one.
We were eventually treated to the boy's shy smile when he met the Yankees coach and the team's newest hitter. We saw it through tears that wouldn't stop falling.
At the end of the program, the seasoned face of the news anchor crumbled when he tried to say his customary 'goodnight' to the viewing audience. Like us, sitting there at home, he failed to keep his composure.
I will always remember the innocence of that little boy's unchecked tears and heart splitting sobs. They cut through the statistics and laid the raw sorrow bare.
Christmas is a time that intensifies both joy and sadness. Remember those who are hurting. Save room for them in your thoughts and prayers. Count your blessings, one by one.
If you remember, pray and count, with honesty and gratitude, you will receive your best Christmas gift before you unwrap your first present.
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