Thursday Mornings Are Tough

This was a great week at my citizen academy class at the sheriff's office.  We had a lecture on the size and scope of the patrol division.  In my county the sheriff department handles the eight cities at the northern edge all the way from Elk River to Forest Lake.  The shifts are 12 hours long and the cars run day and night.  The city of Andover hires a couple extra to act as school liaisons and to do crime prevention in the summer months.  The more I learn about Andover, the more I like Andover.  We had a demonstration of the unmanned aerial vehicle (which is the same thing as a drone but without the negative connotations of a drone).  As I watched the drone in the sky, I could also see my outline in the screen as the expensive camera picked up the heat of my body in the dark.  After that we got to, you won't believe this but it's true and it was a very amazing thing to be able to do, we (including me, orange-sue! Actually I went first I was so eager) got to drive a cop car, turn on the lights and sirens, pull over another car, shine the spotlight on their rear view mirrors, approach the car with a flashlight, shine the flashlight in the driver's eyes (after checking the back seat and passenger area), identify ourselves as a sheriff, and ask why they were pulled over.  Sorry about that run on sentence there but it just goes to show what an amazing moment that was.  Were we on an actual road?  No, we were in the parking lots of the sheriff department.  Was the driver being pulled over a stranger?  No, it was another member of our class.  But no matter!  I got a kick out of that like I never thought I would. What does that say about me that I enjoyed that as much as I did?  I secretly long to be an authority figure?  No, I don't want to be an authority figure but I do like to pretend!  I also got to drive an unmarked car and make a mistake so I would be pulled over.  I did both roles twice.  As a bad driver I signaled right but turned left.  On my second drive I swerved back and forth so much my passenger was getting sick.  That time my pretend cop asked if I had been drinking. I said, "Yes, we both had a glass of milk with dinner."  When I pretended to be the cop I asked for the driver's license and made them read me their address and birthdate just to make sure it wasn't a fake identification.  So they did read me their birthdate.  I didn't have my glasses on so I couldn't read it. My reaction was surprise. Born in 1966?  I thought he was a lot older.  On the second try the guy said 1981 and I was even more surprised to know that I could be the mother of a guy that looked that old. They paid me back though.  I had to read my birth date back to them too.  After that we got to search a car for drugs.  I found a crack pipe in the pocket on the back of the passenger seat and some crystal meth in the wheel well.  I also found a check that was filled out.  I put it with the drugs.  The sheriff hurried over and took it, read it, smiled and put it in his pocket.  I suspect somebody was in for some teasing.  If there is one thing I learned about the sheriff department; it's that they like to tease.  During our power point presentation about the department, clowns with red hair kept appearing on the screen.  Evidently rumors of clowns have been going through the schools in Andover.  And a citizen that day claimed two clowns were chasing cars near Alpine Park in Ramsey.  Like the sheriff said, "It's not a crime to be a clown."  We got out of there late, as usual, and I went home totally excited, wired, eyes wide open and unable to sleep for hours after that.  Once this class is over I will come to like Thursday mornings again but right now, Thursday mornings are tough.