{"id":25444,"date":"2023-10-08T12:40:34","date_gmt":"2023-10-08T16:40:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=25444"},"modified":"2023-10-21T04:25:17","modified_gmt":"2023-10-21T08:25:17","slug":"episode-880-get-in-the-police-car-son-we-are-going-for-a-ride","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=25444","title":{"rendered":"EPISODE 880 “GET IN THE POLICE CAR, SON, WE ARE GOING FOR A RIDE”"},"content":{"rendered":"
EPISODE 780<\/p>\n

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alan skeochOct 6, 2023<\/div>\n

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E<\/div>\n

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This was \u2018MINNIE\u2019S in the 1920;s<\/div>\n

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EPISODE 880  :”GET IN THE POLICE CAR, SON, WE ARE GOING FOR A RIDE”<\/div>\n

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\u201cHave you ever sat in the back seat of a police car?\u201d<\/div>\n

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In an earlier episode i asked if you had ever been strapped.   That got quite a  response.  John Morton said he ws strapped often in elementary<\/div>\n
school which explains his attitude to authorities.  Bob Root said he ws strapped by the best teacher he ever had in public school.  The strapping<\/div>\n
did not change his mind. \u201cShe was wonderful!\u2019.  Erin Furlong said she was strapped at home often along with her siblings.  <\/div>\n

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\u201cYou were never strapped, Alan.\u201d  commented my brother.  But the strapping seem so real.  The wooden chair in the Principals\u2019s<\/div>\n
office\u2026.the drawerwhere he kept the strap\u2026the caution lest I pull my hand away\u2026.the sound as the strap hit his knee\u2026<\/div>\n
\u201cNever happened, Alan, .\u201d  Is Eric right?  Or was I just too ashamed to tell him and mom?  Afraid Dad would <\/div>\n
high tait down to Runnymede PS. to straighten out the man with the sore knee.  \u201cNever happpened, Alan!\u201d   God, Eric can be a <\/div>\n
spoillsport.   And truth is so hard to pin down.  I could concede\u2026.Eric might be right.  But listen up\u2026Eric witnessed this one.<\/div>\n

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\u201cRemember the police car, Eric?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cNow that was a  fact\u2026you got arrested.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cDo you remember why?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cThe key\u2026Minnies swimming pool…\u201d<\/div>\n

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See the jumping tower on the left\u2026.and the pool below\u2026jumping was dangerous\u2026.<\/div>\n

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Here is Minnies Tower\u2026.pool far below\u2026.pic  taken about 1954\u2026do not take a running jump\u2026<\/div>\n
might land on har 1953 Ford Meteor or the fence.<\/div>\n

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We had been swimming at Minnies, more properly known as the Mineral Baths across Bloor street from High Park.  A rather run down swimming pool whose main feature was a high<\/div>\n
wooden tower  designed only for the brave.  <\/div>\n

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\u201cNever take a running leap from the top tower, boys.”<\/div>\n
\u201cwhy not?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cYou will impale yourself on the iron fence along the south edge of the pool,  Do it<\/div>\n
if you favour easy suicide.\u201d<\/div>\n

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It was a rough place built way back in the 1920\u2019s.The male changing room had banks of wooden cabinets.   Gray and dingy’  It was the lockers that got me  into<\/div>\n
very serious trouble.  Police trouble.<\/div>\n

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I was putting on my pants when the idea came to me.<\/div>\n

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\u201cHey Eric.  I bet you dollars to doughnuts these keys are all the same.  One key<\/div>\n
can open any locker.  They\u2019re just skeleton keys.\u201d<\/div>\n

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Then I made the big mistake.<\/div>\n

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\u201cWatch this, Eric, and I stood on the bench and slipped my locker key into different locker.   Were all keys the same?  I never found out.  The moment<\/div>\n

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I put the key in the locker next to me, one of the locker room boys peeped around the corner and started to yell.<\/div>\n

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\u201cGOT HIM! Come quick, I just caught some son of a bitch breaking into the lockers.\u201d<\/div>\n

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Before i could say Jack Robinson, a bunch of muscle guys had pinned me to the floor.<\/div>\n

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\u201cGot him.  Hold him down while we call the police”.The police?  <\/div>\n
Oh God, no, not the cops. What could I do?  Who in tarnation would believe my key idea.<\/div>\n
sounds like a stupid excuse.   <\/div>\n

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  \u201cI was only testing the key\u2026thought all keys were the same.\u201d  No one in their right mind would believe <\/div>\n
that story.  <\/div>\n

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 As the muscle boys were shouldering me into Minnie\u2019s office I got a look at Eric.  He was dumbfounded.  Jaw dropped.   Maybe thinking how he could<\/div>\n
help his big brother\u2026.He was just a year younger than me.  I said noting but noticed him heading for the bike rack. He would get the bikes home.<\/div>\n
I needed dad but he was fast asleep from night shift at Dunlop Tire Company.  Not sure I wanted him,,.  Afraid he would start<\/div>\n
World War Three on Bloor Street.  Dad was a \u2018those are my boys right or wrong\u2019… kind of parent.  And he was tough.   Slapping huge chunks of vulcanized rubber<\/div>\n
on to spinning wheels was a big man\u2019s work.  He could take care of the muscle boys.   But there  must be a better way.<\/div>\n

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They had me pinned to a stool in Minnie\u2019s office.  <\/div>\n

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 \u201cHow many lockers have you rifled?\u201d  <\/div>\n
\u201cNone\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cBull shit kid\u2026The cops will get the truth out of your\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cAny minute now,.. here comes the cruiser.\u201d<\/div>\n

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A big guy in blue levered himself from his car.   Carried a revolver.  \u201cSo you are the kid who breaks into lockers.  A thief?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cI was only trying to see if the key was the same\u2026.\u201d   His eyes looked amused. I was not crying.  Wanted to but just could not  do it.  <\/div>\n

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 I knew my career as a Humberside student was done for\u2026<\/div>\n

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What would Cruickshank, Green, Burford, Schroeder, Charlesworth\u2026. think of me? .and  the principal W.E. Taylor who rescued Ted Puccini and me from<\/div>\n
a local poo hall.  Maybe W.E. would expel me\u2026. worse still what about the girls  of the Runnymede Presbyterian  Youth Club?<\/div>\n
 Girls would look at me with disdain,  I was on the road to purgatory.<\/div>\n

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The cop looked at me in a funny way.  He did not call me a son of bitch.  Quite the reverse .<\/div>\n

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\u201cCome along with me son, I\u2019ll drive you home..\u201d<\/div>\n

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Did he call me \u2018son’?   Was I hearing right?  \u201cI\u2019ll take the boy home,   He won\u2019t do that again.\u201d<\/div>\n
So I escaped  and crawled into the back seat of the cruiser. \u201cSon, get in the front<\/div>\n
seat with me.\u201d  Did he call me \u2018son’ again.  Was this a trick\u2026bad cop – good cop scenario?<\/div>\n
And away we went.  I never went back to Minnies again.  But new worries surfaced.<\/div>\n
What would the neighbours think if a squad car pulled up to our door?  What would Grandma think?  She was living with us for a while and <\/div>\n
loved us.  Sh liked  sitting on the verandah watching the Annette Street trolley stop where smokers often discarded cigarette butts.  She liked to chew tobacco.<\/div>\n
She was dying\u2026perhaps a month to live. She knew it. Granddad had died a few months e earlier. A 19th century woman. Over 90. <\/div>\n

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\u201cOfficer\u2026sir?\u201d <\/div>\n
\u201cYes\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cCould you drop me off  around the corner on Gilmour?   <\/div>\n
\u201cSuppose I could, why?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cMy grandmother loves me and she might be sitting on the porch and\u2026.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cAnd she might form  a different opinion, right?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u2026.I\u2019ll pull up out of sight ,  don\u2019t worry but do not do that key trick again, son.\u201d’<\/div>\n
he called me son again as he let me out.  I have liked police ever since and rarely use the term cop which is a put down word.<\/div>\n

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I never mentioned that Dad was asleep in the bed room.  Dad would believe my story\u2026I think.<\/div>\n

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So that is my story about getting into the back seat of police car as  a suspected criminal.  Even a nice guy like the policeman would not<\/div>\n
believe the truth about the key.  Would you?  Never went back to Minnies so I have no idea if  it was a \u2018one key fits all\u2019 locker room.<\/div>\n
Minnies was demolished a few yeas later\u2026lockers gone\u2019<\/div>\n

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Maybe you have had<\/div>\n
a similar  experience.in a police car<\/div>\n
      <\/div>\n
alan<\/div>\n

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P.S. A s some readers know Dad said \u201cI have two sons, one is a  gutsy bugger and the other is as stupid as Joe\u2019s dog.”<\/div>\n
Sounds stupid I know but believe it or not the terms had meaning.  Dare not  tell you the meaning in this story. They were<\/div>\n
terms of endearment.   Dad expressed affection in odd ways.<\/div>\n

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EPISODE 780 alan skeochOct 6, 2023 E This was \u2018MINNIE\u2019S in the 1920;s EPISODE 880  :”GET IN THE POLICE CAR, SON, WE ARE GOING FOR A RIDE” \u201cHave you ever sat in the back seat of a police car?\u201d In an earlier episode i asked if you had ever been strapped.   That got quite […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25444"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25444\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}