Sometimes folks, without due consideration, do things that seem like a real good idea but lead to disastrous consequences. Former Chief Ben Caruthers reminded me of one such incident.
Naples had a hard-scrabble Cracker family that caused cops to assume a defensive posture anytime they saw one of them coming. The two sons, in particular, were notoriously combative hell raisers and were both unaccountable to any deity of common sense.
One night the eldest, who we'll call Luther, his puny cognitive resources further addled by a gallon or so of liquid stupid, decided that he would benefit from a circumcision. I doubt the possibility that a doctor and hospital should be involved ever crossed his mind. Luther's mind didn't work that way. He was impulsive, even when sober. Drunk, he was Pavlov's dog. So, he went to the beach, took out his Buck knife and began trimming away. This, of course, brought forth a gusher of blood and Luther barely made it to the hospital alive. He did live, of course, protected by the Angel of the Drunk and Stupid.
Later, if asked by hospital personnel what provoked him to engage in such insanity he would've said the magic words: "Don't know, seemed like a real good idea at the time."
I know this will come as a terrible shock, but even cops make bad mistakes. Yes, it's rare but it do happen. Take the case of two from the CCSO who were chasing a speeder out the East Trail. The driver was the then Sheriff. (It was not Aubrey Rogers) He ordered the Deputy to fire on the escaping vehicle. Shoot it's tires out like he'd seen in the movies. This was a time when cops could shoot just about anybody or anything for any reason.
The Deputy rolled down the window, unholstered his revolver, leaned out and fired a round. Anyone who has ever fired a revolver at night knows there is a lotta smoke, fire, and sparks that come out the barrel and cylinder. When you shoot into a wind coming at you at 80 mph it blows back and burns the hell outta your hand. Causing you to want to let go of the thing quickly, which he did. The gun, crashed to the highway, destroying it.
Yes, yes, I know it never happens in the movies or on TV. And on TV little people regularly Kung Fu big bad people, guns have unlimited ammo, and all crimes are solved in an hour. Our Deputy, however, was in the real world and when he retrieved his revolver, the barrel now bent to the Southeast, he must've had one fleeting thought: Seemed like a real good idea at the time.
Naples had a hard-scrabble Cracker family that caused cops to assume a defensive posture anytime they saw one of them coming. The two sons, in particular, were notoriously combative hell raisers and were both unaccountable to any deity of common sense.
One night the eldest, who we'll call Luther, his puny cognitive resources further addled by a gallon or so of liquid stupid, decided that he would benefit from a circumcision. I doubt the possibility that a doctor and hospital should be involved ever crossed his mind. Luther's mind didn't work that way. He was impulsive, even when sober. Drunk, he was Pavlov's dog. So, he went to the beach, took out his Buck knife and began trimming away. This, of course, brought forth a gusher of blood and Luther barely made it to the hospital alive. He did live, of course, protected by the Angel of the Drunk and Stupid.
Later, if asked by hospital personnel what provoked him to engage in such insanity he would've said the magic words: "Don't know, seemed like a real good idea at the time."
I know this will come as a terrible shock, but even cops make bad mistakes. Yes, it's rare but it do happen. Take the case of two from the CCSO who were chasing a speeder out the East Trail. The driver was the then Sheriff. (It was not Aubrey Rogers) He ordered the Deputy to fire on the escaping vehicle. Shoot it's tires out like he'd seen in the movies. This was a time when cops could shoot just about anybody or anything for any reason.
The Deputy rolled down the window, unholstered his revolver, leaned out and fired a round. Anyone who has ever fired a revolver at night knows there is a lotta smoke, fire, and sparks that come out the barrel and cylinder. When you shoot into a wind coming at you at 80 mph it blows back and burns the hell outta your hand. Causing you to want to let go of the thing quickly, which he did. The gun, crashed to the highway, destroying it.
Yes, yes, I know it never happens in the movies or on TV. And on TV little people regularly Kung Fu big bad people, guns have unlimited ammo, and all crimes are solved in an hour. Our Deputy, however, was in the real world and when he retrieved his revolver, the barrel now bent to the Southeast, he must've had one fleeting thought: Seemed like a real good idea at the time.
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