I had to call the cops on my break today...

[thegiraffe]

On my break today, I was hungry (obviously lol), so I went down the street a bit to a Burger King. Well, the BK happens to be kinda in the same parking lot as another grocery store in town (competitor). As I'm driving through the parking lot, this guy catches my eye. He's shirtless (flag 1), stumbling (flag 2), dishevelled (flag 3), and seems to be disoriented and confused (flag 4). He's attempting to stay on the curb, but finds himself in the street (parking lot street) every 3 steps or so. I watch him from the safety of my locked car, and decide he needs to be evaluated. I call the cops and tell them where I am, give a VERY detailed description of the fella, and explain to them that I have a degree in psychology, and while I haven't spoken with him, he appears to be drunk at the very least, but his dishevelled and confused state have me worried that there may be a deeper problem here. I pull over and get the attention of one of the baggers in the parking lot, and explain to them what I told the dispatcher, and let them know the cops are on their way. I then see him try to open a (locked...thankfully) semi truck. The only problem was that he missed the door handle by a good 8 inches. Great, so his coordination and dexterity are way off too. I only have an hour for break and I'm a good 8 minutes from work, so I go to BK and get my food, warn them that there's a loose drunk (lock the back door), and head back through the parking lot of the other store to see what's up. The cops show up as I'm pulling through, and the managers thank me (even though I was in the uniform of MY grocery store, they were nice to me. I appreciated that). I really hope this guy gets the help he needs. I have no idea if he's homeless or what the deal is, but there seems to be a deeper problem here, perhaps a cognitive deficiency? He appeared to be about 40 or 50, but looks can be deceiving.

It's also amusing to note that the entire BK fell silent when I rattled off the description of "white male, shirtless, blue shorts, tan timberlands, salt-and-pepper hair, appears to be about 6', about 145 lbs, approximately 40-50 years old". One of the cashiers replies "damn....it's like America's Most Wanted in here!". I was amused, but credit it to hearing my dad call the cops a few times as a kid for whatever reason. Giving good descriptions is a good skill to have. That's only the second time I've had to use those skills on the phone, I was a witness in a domestic violence dispute, and was the only one who thought to get a good description of both the cars and the perps. Too much Law and Order, maybe? lol

[Rahmota]

Just the facts ma'am.

Good Job TG. Too many people probably would have driven past the guy without doing anything other than thinking what a loser.

[Crosshair]

Too many people probably would have driven past the guy without doing anything other than thinking what a loser.
Not that the police can do a whole lot with a person like that if they are homeless. What are they goan do? Arrest him for not knowing how to walk? Often they just turn the mental cases back out on the street. With alot of the mental hospitals defunded in the 1980's or around that time, there simply isn't any money to help these people.

With it being much harder to involuntarily commit someone and there being a lack of mental helth funding, if the person does not want treatment they will often be released. If the person is homeless, it is very likely that nothing will be done to help them.

Had someone who lived near us who was like that, mainly from alcohol. You eventualy just ignore them and don't even bother calling the police as there is nothing that they can do. Yea it's sad, but that is how life works sometimes. Don't know what happened to that guy, I just stopped seeing him around the neighborhood.

[Rahmota]

Crosshair: I forget sometimes that society has trouble dealing with the less fortunate. Living in the country i don't see the same thigns that grace the streets of our cities. Not to say it doesnt happen aorund here but that in many ways things are handled differently. Maybe not better just differently. And yes it is still sad no matter what the reason for the lack of care and help that people in need get.

[blas]

thegiraffe: it appears you've spotted Crazy John! (I posted about him in sightings and they're be a story one day) Everyone in my hometown has been wondering where he went! He must have grown a few inches and lost a few pounds, but that's to be expected! We'll take him back now, don't worry, your town will never have to deal with him again, he's our problem again.

Sorry, I know it's not a laughing matter, but your story was all too familiar. If anyone from where I'm from reads this, they'll think Crazy John in an instant. I just hope this man gets the help that he needs. You were very courageous, as you never know some of the things these people will do. You are also very caring, as most people would just walk past, drive past, or spit on him.

You're a wonderful person and you did a great job. Kudos to you!

[Crosshair]

Yea, the thing is, the "city" I live in has a population of 50,000. It often isn't just a problem of society having trouble helping them, if the person does not want help (Happens quite often) then there really isn't a thing you can do.

[Sandman]

I remember the police department of the major city I live near.

They said call if you see anything out of the ordinary, or even cases of road rage.

They would rather show up there, and find out nothing strange is going on, or it moved on than have something big happen and nobody called to head it off at the pass.

[Rahmota]

Sorry crosshair I keep forgetting I live in the backwaters of civilization. My entire county doesnt have 50k people in it. I think the last census has somewhere in the 40ks for the entire county.

And yeah that is bad when the person doesnt want help but that is their right as a person.. Whats worse is when society turns the blind eye. And I think I'll stop there as anything else is more fratching worthy than customersucky. (BLatent advertising)

Sandman: Yeah thats the way the sheriff's dept is around here. They would rather have a reasonable call to prevent something getting out of hand then to be called after things have already hit the fan. Makes their job much easier and things better in general.

[Der Cute]

In Anchorage, there was a guy known as Floyd.

He was an adult who had mental issues, but functioned enough to live partially alone- he had some caretakers.

You could drive thru the streets and sometimes see F just standing on a median waving and saying Hello to everyone. For HOURS. He wasnt asking for money, he just was happy.

All the cops knew him - he had been 86'd out of many places. He would try and charm his way back in..and you'd have to tell him gently, No, you're not supposed to be here! No, you cant come in.

There was a time I had to call the cops to help him get home, he'd missed the last bus and didnt have enough money to buy the taxi (but had enough to buy a $6 bag of Doritos.) We had to convince him No Doritos, Yes Taxi. Took a while but worked ok.

A couple of years ago, he died. There even was an article about him in the newspaper. Everyone in town knew of him.

Takes all kinds of humans to make a World. RIP Floyd.

Cutenoob

[thegiraffe]

Yeah - I don't know about this guy or anything, but I was REALLY afraid he was going to wander out into traffic (he couldn't even stay on the curb!). This store is on a major intersection of two big roads. During rush hour on a holiday weekend. NOT a good place for a drunk. I was even more worried when he went for the door handle of that semi and missed by like 8 inches. Those suckers aren't small...if you don't have the dexterity to hit it, perhaps you'd better sleep off whatever you had. Something tells me this was a combination of some 'self-medication' as well as something cognitive as well. He seemed to be kinda off in a world of his own, completely oblivious to the world around him. I have pretty good instincts, and something just set off an alarm bell in my head when I saw him. Here's hoping he got the help he needed.

And if he was pulling a Floyd (all happy and all), that wouldn't have been an issue. I have no problem with people with any kinds of issues, I don't see why we should try to institutionalize those who aren't hurting anyone and are just as happy as can be. Why fix what's not broken? *Disclaimer: not looking for a political/policy debate, simply presenting my point of view on this subject matter. All debate should be directed to Fratching :D *

[Misanthropical]

Working security at the hospital, I saw all kinds of mentally unbalanced people brought in.

It was very weird, they would be lashing out at everyone in sight, till I came around and it was like I had a calming effect on them. I mean they would be trying to tear nurses and the other security personal to pieces and I would show up and they would calm right down and talk to me.

The second in command in charge of security wanted me hired on (I was with a different company brought in a temp basis) since he saw and was in awe on how my very presence would calm someone down. He wasn't allowed to hire me on, since the head guy (who I never met) decided he wanted the other woman hired, the woman who would run and hide when the mental people were brought in, because she had an open schedule and mine wasn't.

I still have no idea why my presence caused these people to calm right down. :confused:

[Crosshair]

I still have no idea why my presence caused these people to calm right down. :confused:
Could it be the flamethrower?:p

[Cia]

I think it's her psychedelic aura. It's purty! :)