Picking up from yesterday –
So, the officer is working on convincing T to go with us.
I can feel that he almost might. So, I jump in to the mixture, leaning in, asking, “would you please mind going with us? We’d love to give you a ride over there. Come on. Just ride with us. It won’t hurt you to take a ride.”
He reluctantly agrees! Yay! Can you believe it? I sort of felt like I helped! *pat on my own back, small hair flip*
When I relayed that story to a friend, he said it sounded like “good cop, nicer cop” tehehe. I thought that was quite a funny way to explain it.
So, Officer Holloway and I talk to T on the way to the VA. I ask if he has any kids. He says, “not as far as I know!” Hardy-har-har.
We got to the VA, and Officer Holloway made sure he fought for T to really have someone in his corner looking out for him. We met another veteran there – J who is staying in an apartment on a the VA campus. He was telling T all about how he could be housed there and how if T would only wait until 9:30 he’d even take the shuttle over with him to talk to a case worker!
We were told that of course T couldn’t get his knee surgery until he was sober for a bit (I don’t know how long there needs to not be any alcohol in his system.) But, there was even a program to help with sobriety on the campus.
T seemed extremely skeptical about everything… Although, who knows – perhaps he should’ve been. I don’t know the system or how it all works. All I know is that I really hope he stuck around and was able to get the help he needed.
After our time at the VA, Officer Holloway took me back to my friend’s apartment. Before the ride along was officially over, we did take a few pose-y pictures of me in and around the police cruiser.
I asked if I could sit in the back and hold the bars on the window as though I was getting arrested. Officer Holloway said I definitely did not want to do that, ’cause I have no idea whose been in the back of that vehicle peeing and spitting and who knows what.
Okay then.
Before I said goodbye, I found out that Officer Holloway’s partner had arrested a sex offender while we were at the VA! I don’t know any details, but it sounded dramatic, and we totally missed out on it.
Though I will say, even though most of my friends reacted with “I can’t believe you missed an arrest!” – I think I’m happier having interacted with someone who will possibly be helped rather than interact with someone who’s being punished and thrown in jail (though perhaps, maybe also helped in ways he needs – who knows)…
As the sun was now out and the day beginning, I snuck back into my friend’s house just in time to wake him up for work – with June 25th, 2014’s experience complete.