April 15, 2017

On Holy Saturday, I covered an area that I used to call "home."  As I waited at the station, at the start it felt like there was rarely a person there, ironic on a Saturday night.  But as I went to the target station, I meditated in order to breathe better & be more in alert.  As I exited, I noticed the air was moist, almost as if it was going to rain.  The air was damp.  I wanted to extend the patrol, but the last thing I wanted to get was the flu.  Amazing thing about Boston, when one door closes, as in a sidewalk, another opens.  As I passed a man with a Boston Red Sox baseball cap, I just nodded.  He nodded back, showing a mutual sign of respect.  They were standing out there, smoking a cigarette.  They were away from business, so loitering wasn't present.  And even if, a citizen's arrest covered A FELONY IN PROGRESS, not a misdemeanor.  I noticed a family, one a little girl in an Easter dress on a scooter, on their way back from a party.  I was in front, but when I heard a car was coming there way, I did a turn.  Fortunately the car braked in time, & we all moved on.  Little did they know a guardian angel was there to make sure there was for them an Easter Sunday.  Next I heard some arguing & yelling, I turned back.  It was two men, but there was no crime.  They were ranting & raving.  What was said was so unclear thru the racial slurs heard.  All I know it was a man, light-skinned, 5'5" possibly, mustache, beard, hair in a bun, wearing an Dunkin Donuts uniform; ranting about something.  Whether or not it was a confession or a witness, there is little I can do.  All that it could be would be bragging, little to prove if turned to court, where he can sue if he was found not guilty.   So I had to walk on, but witness.  As I was closing in on another station, the rain started to intensify.  I made the most of it by going down a side street for a short amount.  The train back thou, was packed.  I was standing, near a T Inspector.  We talked a little bit.  There was no feelings on fear, & the conversation ended well.  But I noticed he walked into a room as I headed out.  Back to work.  But from now on, check the weather.

April 8, 2017

My first patrol of 2017 & I really felt like I got into a groove.  I wanted to try a new route to get adjusted, since as a civilian I saw an opportunity to help a certain area.  I wanted to try to get there thru a familiar route.  I decided to "dust off the duster."  It felt good wearing the long coat again.  I feel like my rookie year all over again.  I noticed as I passed a couple off people were murmuring "super-hero," another was doing the Batman '66 theme.  I decided to go down allies, aka my rookie year.  First one, I saw an empty wheelchair.  Looked new & from a hospital.  I didn't stay since someone was coming.  I managed to guess my way thru Boston better as I was tracking well.  When I got to a certain bridge.  I knew my route was getting well.  But when I went to the end, instead of going for the certain thing & pass a CVS, I walked aside it, making me lost.  I looked at Google Maps afterwards to understand where I made the mistake.  But all wasn't lost.  I managed to help some people by giving three granola bars.  And an interesting thing, as I was walking off the path, there was a bunch of ladies waiting & spotted me.  I think they were looking at their app to see if I was suspicious.  I did the deescalation method, the one that got me hurt the last time I did that, but this worked.  Because they were known to be civilians & it helped calm their fears.  I also got a compliment & a fist bump.  The sirens were making me nervous.  Even thou I am RLSH, I don't know if it was the fashion, the disability, or who I was that made me feel nervous.  But I managed to keep my cool by letting myself do small meditations.  I never got to do that area, but I see high hopes in doing it in the future.  This was a great way for me to get my feet wet this year.  Hope the next one is better.