Ok, perhaps “arrested” is not exactly the right term and Emelia isn’t quite two. It all began on our trip to Orlando as Emmy and I were at the Cleveland Airport going through passport control and security. Now, before I tell the entire story, allow me to say that Emelia has the greatest deference for police oficers. She should, at least. I am a retired Chief of Police. Emelia’s father is a county corrections officer and her uncle is a local police officer, not that this 1 year and so many month old little girl really understands that. I also need to say at the outset that we fully understand the dificult task that TSA officers have and why they needed to do what they did with me at the airport.
Now… for the story. It was just Emmy and me, waiting our turn in a VERY long line at security. Thankfully, Emmy was in a stroller so we moved ahead a little more quickly. I got all of our stuff on the converyor belt to the x-ray machine and we were waiting to go through the detector a second time. I say a second time because the first time, as I carried the little munchkin through either my brand new knee or my old steel rods along my vertebrae activated the detector. As we waited, a TSA officer tried to make nice with Emelia and gave her a stick on TSA badge which she wore proudly on her shirt, at first anyway. Then the other officer came, an older gentleman. He was polite and professional but he was not about to be taken into Emmy’s confidence. Time came for the second trip through the detector. This time I had to walk through on my own and then call Emmy to follow me because if I carried her, she would have to be patted down too. Finally, she came through, now her emotions were beginning to boil. She wanted held but I could not pick her up or, again, she would have to be searched. So, she gets placed in her stroller and she sits and watches while this officer takes her Papaw and frisks him very thoroughly. The longer he takes to search me and the more he is putting his hands on her Papaw the angrier she becomes. And then, it happened. It has been said that a picture is worth a thousand words so here… Continue reading “Hell Hath No Fury Like a Two-Year Old Whose Grandpa is Arrested?!”
A sign in the lobby of the Fusion Center reads “Today is September 12, 2001” – The idea is that every person who works within the Fusion Center is to work as they did, feeling as they felt on the day after 9-11. It is so incredibly important for all of us to remember that every single day we remain at war. We have a sworn enemy that is out to do us damage and to cost us lives. Always vigilant, always prepared and always on the watchtower.
Doc Riggs' Ministry Minute 