June 16, 2018

On the heels of trying new safety equipment & the news about the situation with the attack of a pervert on the T (the kind that was really that) and the arrest of a good samaritan in that area, I knew I would have a lot on the line.  As I was driving down a major street, rather slow since it was a hot Saturday night summer in Boston, I noticed a light that said "O/D off."  I thought, "oh, s**t!  Another problem?"  As I found when I got back, it was the overdrive was off because I was going so slow on the street.  Thanks new law, which said 25 miles per hour is now the major speed limit in Boston.  I made it to a new garage, which was quite different from the last one, but also cheaper (no offense guys.)  You know you feel awkward when the door felt like a back alley (Trust a guy in a do-rag!)  As I walked I managed to made it the street I wanted to cross to continue the patrol, but I noticed I was in back of a group of guys acting like they were ready for a night out on the town.  I thought, "No problem.  They weren't high risk.  They were in a large group.  They WERE AWARE OF THEIR SURROUNDINGS;  but the last one, THEY WERE AWARE OF THEIR SURROUNDINGS.  That cost me.  As I passed by they were like Statler & Waldorf on the Muppets.  They were heckling me on my patrol.  I managed to cross opposite the street.  It made me nervous, especially for earlier.  I even made the mistake of missing an opportunity to help, fortunately someone came to pick up the slack.  As I walked I felt more awkward, especially with new equipment acting funny.  As I managed to go down the street, I noticed I was behind someone.  I tried walking slow or even going down side streets.  The sirens did n't make things easier.  I managed to go down one side street.  From the start it looked like I was walking down an alley.  I spent time observing every side alley, every small parking lot for any trouble.  Then I was in trouble.  What that side street led to was a housing area in that section of the city.  I just pulled a Bee Sting! a hero who was in trouble for an encounter in an area like that in Michigan.  Fortunately I knew that that street was going to lead me to the main road, so all I had to do was walk down & hope for the best.  It almost didn't.  A paddy wagon came up & was flashing their lights as I was there.  I stopped so not to cause trouble.  Fortunately, the wagon didn't stop.  I was relieved.  It turned out it was at a house, possibly a house party gone wrong.  As I made it the main street, I noticed how much the mistake it was as the donut shop that I passed was to my left, as last time I was passing it.  In other words, I panicked too soon for nothing.  I managed to walk back to the car.  As I headed back, I put the A/C on as a precaution.  This was a learnable patrol where the next time I would have to study my routes a little more carefully, as well as not panic way too easily.