Now and then I read your online 'Police Blotter' because it's usually fun to see what other citizens of Chattanooga have been up to. I'm not talking about real crime here; I'm talking about real stupidity or just plain silliness. This morning's list included a good one:
"A woman at a residence on Hamilton Mill Drive told police she has a wildlife reserve in her back yard. She said a bobcat sometime last night or this morning had its tail cut off.
She said there are workers working on her house, but they denied seeing or knowing anything."
I'm an engineer, not a zoologist, but I do have to ask: Why do you think they're called BOBcats? Just as possums and armadillos are born dead on the highway, bobcats are born with their tails cut off. Perhaps the complaint should have been more specific?
Anyway, there has been one recurring theme of police activity in the past few weeks that I truly appreciate. Time and again I have read that the police were called to this, that, or the other location to deal with some unwanted individual who seems to have a genuine problem. Often it turns out that person simply needs to be or wants to be somewhere else and can't get there. So the police do the most logical thing in the world - they take that troubled man or woman wherever he or she wants to go; case closed.
Now, I can imagine many folks who would argue that 'The Chattanooga Police Department is not a taxi company; stop hauling folks around town at taxpayers' expense!' But in spite of all my usual complaints about governmental waste and folly, somehow this particular bit of police activity pleases me.
For one thing, it shows that the individual policemen and women involved are human and are willing to make decisions that are exactly right at the time, even though they may be subject to criticism later. (Most of us walk that tightrope most of the time, right?)
And surely the main best feature is, that simple bit of kindness relieves somebody's distress and probably prevents a lot of other trouble for other people.
So, thanks to the local police for those good deeds, even if it sometimes feels like you're just driving a taxi.
P.S. If I'm ever the agitated and undesirable individual who wants to be somewhere else, I'd rather ride in a fire truck!
Larry Cloud
Lookout Valley