My Contribution to Public Safety

(meant to blog about this last week and I totally forgot.)

Ya know, sometimes you can make a difference just by being there. No, really...you can!

For those who aren't aware, the TTC revamped their security services a while back and created a whole new class of transit cop. Now these folks aren't carrying sidearms, but most of them are ex-cops and quite capable of taking you down without a (Glock/S&W/Sig Sauer/Colt. etc.) They even have a plainclothes group who look for fare jumpers and other undesirables on the system. Unlike a regular security guard, these folks have police powers while within the transit system and they can and will arrest or ticket people.

This in mind, I was headed home one day and I had to leave early to pick up a card, so I arranged to meet Big Guy from work at the turnstiles of the subway for our evening commute. With my errand done quickly, I had a little time to kill and I was leaning against one of the token dispensers. I heard a big thump off to my left and saw this early 20-something guy...all laughing and goofy in his baggy clothes. I turned to look and he saw me and stopped. A couple of minutes later his buddy thumped down the stairs next to him. They paused, had a quick confab and proceeded to walk towards me and into the station. These guys might as well have been carrying sandwich boards reading "Shit Disturber", because the clothes, the body language and everything else just screamed "I've got free time and I'll do whatever the fuck I want with it." I didn't give them another thought and proceeded to read my book, but remained aware they were walking towards me.

To my surprise and amusement, the first goofball who hit the bottom of the stairs looks at me and says, "hey Officer, how you doin'...you doin' alright today?"...and kept on walking.

Me (without missing a beat) "Oh I'm just fine...you fellas have a nice day."

"You too, Officer sir", they replied.

They kept walking and started laughing to themselves, thinking they "made" a plainclothes cop and somehow played some massive trick on "The Man". Of course, the joke was, and still is, on them because the one plainclothes guy I saw nailing a fare jumper looked a lot less like a cop and a lot more like a dirty drywaller with a badge hanging around his neck. I, for one, gave silent thanks to the Army for giving me that "don't even think about it" stare, which I obviously gave the first guy when he landed at the bottom of the stairs.

Big Guy arrived a few moments later and asked why I was smiling, so I related the tale. He, of course, thought this was brilliant and he congratulated me on keeping the streets safe.

See? Sometimes you can make a difference even when you're just standing around.