Monday, August 11, 2008

Stetsons and Bowie Knives

Ok. I must admit, I miss that my brother is no longer a Trooper. There is/was an air of distinction about him, aesthetically speaking. Yeah yeah, I'm a girl and I love guys in uniform, but, to tell the truth, it was that cowboy hat. Otherwise referred to as the Stetson. Technically speaking, any form of head gear made by Stetson can be called a Stetson, but around these parts, I guess when you say Stetson, the immediate image that comes to mind are Texas Troopers and the Texas Rangers (and I don't mean the baseball team). We're not hicks.. But these hats do make a good lookin' man.. look gooder!

When my brother was a Trooper, the story goes, he never took off his hat. Even when he was driving his patrol car. And other Troopers knew he meant business if they saw him taking it off, when face:face (imminent confrontation) with a motorist.

At any rate, I love my brother and the decision he's made to serve and defend the public. It is dangerous out there. I remember driving southbound on the DNT, with my mother in the car, and we come upon a Trooper in his patrol car, stopped in the middle lane with flashers blinking.. to keep traffic out of the lane.. Someone had dropped a sofa on the tollway and kept going. As I passed the car to the left I realized it was brother. My was frantic and wanted me to call him and tell him to get out of the middle of the street. I did. He laughed. We kept going.

And I can't tell you how many times I've seen my brother standing on the side of the road, investigating and accident or "face:face" with a motorist. And I'm always glad to hear him tell about it! That's the good part. Hearing HIM tell about it. He didn't really like being a Trooper on the DNT. Maybe if he'd been on the highway he'd still be there. Maybe not. It's a dangerous job. But we get our laughs. Watch plenty of COPS and Dallas SWAT and other none-sensical t.v. cops shows and such.. and I learn so much from him, like that rule about ignorance of the law not being an excuse. Come on, now! Do you think, if I'd known that tapping my breaks when someone is tale-gating me, was against the law, that I would have been doing it? What I should do is get me a Bowie Knife and mount that sucker on my dashboard! Then start waving that thing around in rush hour traffic. Would that incite road rage or prevent it? Hmmmmmm.. I have to think on that.

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