Terrorism vs. Prop 19
Ladies and Gentlemen the story you are about to hear is true, the names have been changed to protect the innocent.
The day, the sun in Scorpio, November 5th, 2010. Time 1:20 am. The location , The Dunkin Donuts on Kings Bridge Avenue across from the Armory.
This is Dragnet 2010. I am Det. McMahon, Badge NYPD 514. This is the case of the Smiling PERP. The One that got away.
We were under a Scorpion New Moon this night. Under a new moon, You feel that the rules other people make are not for you, you make your own rules appropriate to the present moment. It is a time when the moon is going thru transformation and the evenings cast no shadow.
It is the Moons energy. that drives the tides in the Oceans and the 92% of water in man. It is that energy that ruled this night of Dark Irony brought on by the Scorpion nature. Remember Halloween falls under Scorpio. Get it...
On this night I’m enjoying my nightly cup of Joe at the Dunkin Donuts on Kings bridge Avenue in the Bronx. I’m a lone Wolf and into the shop walked these three Rookies (cubs), all from the 55th Precinct. They weren’t really rookies, they had some time in, but they were no old salt.
All three couldn’t be taller than 5’10’ , 5’11” the most.
There was Off. Mazerelli to the right of the counter. Mazerelli is a little vain, he keeps a dark thickly groomed coiffure. It’s the envy at the station.
There was Off. Braun. Braun was standing to the left of the counter. Officer Braun, wore his head shaved and was thickly muscled. He’s a boy that never misses a meal. He had the workhorse body that equaled Mazerelli’s looks.
And of course to end the trio was Officer Riggs. Riggs is a good cop. A cop that’s a bit over the edge, with a touch of crazy in the eyes. But the city has a way of doing that to you. Riggs was standing center completing the triangle.
They began talking amongst themselves after placing their order with the Pakistani donut clerks. They hadn’t noticed me, nobody does.
I was just sitting there, being nondescript. Thinking nothing, no worries, no thoughts of responsibility. Just me and my joe. Very Buddha.
It is of great coincidence that today is my friend Tyree’s birthday. Nov. 5th , The Day of Actuality.
The days meditation:
“The emptied mind is more prepared to see the Truth”
It has been 3 days since the great election of 2010. Across the nation “we the people”, stood up collectively and voiced our concerns by voting.
Some are taken back by the dominating percentage of Red States. I’ve heard that it hasn’t happen since 1938. Well even more befitting for the first President of Color. Semper Fi.
Some people though not politically minded were mindful of being in response to tragedy. Tragedy of the kind, that makes young men want to jump off the George, to meet the cold embrace of the reaper, in the waves, beneath.
But a Bishop of the Church in the Now, would leave the safety of his station. Put at risk his livelihood and risking being seen as spitting in the face of God. Stood up in faith and proclaimed himself as being Gay. A Bishop for Christ sake. Who says “they” shouldn’t get married, oh wait, Don’t ask , don’t tell. A bishops’ simple sacrifice of courage to save the young and misunderstood.
(God Bless, Bishop Bill Swilley)
With each sip of the joe my thoughts were drifting away. We we on alert after that bomb found on the planes earlier that week. it threw the department into a frenzy. More of a frenzy in the city than here in the Bronx. But still work.
Yeah, another sip, the joe was doing it’s magik. My mind was clearing. The tension was being released. i could unclench my teeth now, and loosen my shoes one my feet.
I ws just getting into a rhythm with the sipping, when he opened the doors to the shop. It was a customer. A Blatino male about 32. Wearing a Brown outer sweater. Brown with black and white stripping and a grey shoulder sport bag. Low Caesar hair cut, with about a week’s beard growth and glasses. He came into the shop smiling, as if thinking about something. But as he walked in he paused and his eyes widened slightly behind his tinted brown glasses.
He paused and looked at the three rookies that had taken slight notice of him, save for his entrance. he continued to walk in to the shop seemingly without pause. But I detected the pause.
He stepped into the ropes that comprised the line and then curiously began to smile broader. The smile became a grin. The grin turned to a chuckle. The chuckle roused the looks of the rookies, who noticed that he was laughing at them.
They began to check themselves out to see what was the matter. Mazerelli checked his hair. Braun checked his uniform. Riggs was just annoyed being laughed at.
Mazerelli looked towards the door and notice that Lt. Dinkins was walking thru the door. The customer turned towards him and started to laugh out loud now.
He said, “ I’m sorry but this is funny. What are the chances that I would walk in to actually find cops in the donut shop. It’s ironic, you three are like Mo, Larry and Curly. As for the Lt. he’s the ring leader.”
He had gotten it out, while waiting for them to catch up. The rookies and the Lt. had to laugh at the characterization. I too had to laugh at the stereotype. It was ironic.
We were disarmed, there was nothing out of the ordinary. We could relax and not have to worry about our own safety , we the enforcers of peace.
The customer went ahead and placed his order. Two Boston creme donuts and a cup of milk with ice. He had a few parting words with the Lieutenant, saying goodbye smiling joyfully.
He came close to me by the fixings counter, opening the the milks lid and taking a sip. He was still smiling. Now I knew him to be the fox that he was. He was beginning to smile like a thief or a politician, (same thing).
Then he spoke,” Life is funny, about how fate can change on a dime. See three cops in a donut shop is funny, but what’s even funnier is that I was surrounded by three cops and had a 1/4 ounce of weed on me. When I first walked in here my heart skipped, but what could I do I was already committed. If I had turned around and walked out I would have looked even more guilty. So all I could do is laugh to keep myself from crying.”
I responded saying,” Yeah that’s true, if they had suspected you’d be crying all right. All night in jail.” I couldn’t help but smile in response at the irony of his confession to me.
“Tell me about it” , he said. “You know I’m 41 y.o., positive and need the weed, but not the stress. It is aggravating that there’s no medical marijuana available here in New York. If I were in California, it wouldn’t be an issue. Anyway I thank God , nothing went down”.
He took a big bite of his donut and said goodbye and walked out the store. I saw him cross the street and begin to climb the stairs to the No. 4 train. I let him go I didn’t have the heart to arrest him. He wasn’t a threat, he wasn’t a dealer and most importantly he didn’t have any disrespect for the men in blue. He actually seemed like a happy soul, which only the energy of Scorpio could transform into darkness. My cup of joe kept me from being that dark cloud.
I smiled, and took another sip. This election season brought back another Cuomo into the governor’s office. Another Cuomo, the more things change the more they stay the same. I’m glad there’s another Cuomo in office maybe it’s a omen in the changing of fortunes.
However this Cuomo, has bigger issues to deal with. He has to revive a state who’s economy is in the crapper and a myriad of domestic issues. The biggest thing though is maintaining a sense of security in this newly felt terrorist climate.
Planes wiping out the twins, bombs in UPS packages and in the underwear of plane passengers. A bomb in a truck in Times Square. A terror threat every five minutes. We in the P.D. have our hands full at keeping the peace.
Should I really bother a citizen, that looks responsible, about carrying the contraband of a 1/4 ounce. They should have let prop 19 pass or at least expand the use medically.
In this age of terrorism maybe a little weed is the answer. To take the edge off. To slow things down a bit. To be able to have an appetite to feast, to overcome the knot of fear in the gut, that terrorism can instill.
As a cop if I had to choose Terrorism vs. Marijuana, I’d choose marijuana any day. Marijuana doesn’t threaten our infrastructure, our transportation. It doesn’t instill paranoia into the consciousness of our citizens. Neither does it make one group of citizens more suspect than others.
Terrorism has complicated everything from friendships to where to put a Mosque to getting a full body scan at the airport.
Give me the simple days of stopping someone for a Nickel bag vs. someone with a bag of C-4 any day.
Marijuana has never blown up a plane or caused a war. A nation never lost lives because of weed, they just got a good case of the munchies. Long live the Summer of ‘69.
