A quick memory came to mind this morning. While reading an account of scaring someone with the flash from a camera, I remembered my flash prank from long ago (1994). On duty, I carried small teddy bears to give to crying children at accidents, or domestic disturbances. I was all business with the bad element. The troublemakers had nicknamed me “Ice Man” on the street. There could also be a humorous side to me, it could be morbid, strange, and at times twisted. It was a good way to relieve stress. My jokes and pranks were always directed towards partners, never citizens.
I enjoyed photography (still do), I also owned a large flash unit for my camera. Lets just start with that.
Xenon strobes generate between 300-500 to flash.
J.C. was my traffic partner. We had just taken possession of brand new Harley-Davidson Police Motorcycles a couple of weeks earlier. Shiny, beautiful, equipped with the latest new lighting in our department, strobe lights, two in the front, one at the rear on a metal pole. They had installed the driver unit that powers the strobes in the left-side saddle bag, with a caution of keeping metallic things from coming in contact with the box in the bottom rear of the compartment. As some may be aware, the old style xenon strobe lights generate voltage between 300-500 to flash.
As I left for work that day, I placed my camera flash in a small towel and put it in the saddlebag. That evening just as it was getting twilight, we had stopped at a large convenience store in the center of town. We were taking a break, standing around talking to a couple of other patrol officers who had dropped by to kill time.
I mentioned to J.C., that my rear strobe mounted on the pole had flickered, instead of firing brightly a couple times. I knew he would want to take a look at the box, he was a tinkerer type. Now I had turned the camera flash on just after we arrived, so it would be charged up. J.C. starts moving things around and checking connections on the box. He knew the unit was not “on and operating” at the moment, so felt safe reasonably safe checking the connections.
Once he stopped jumping around
As he was saying he couldn’t see or feel anything loose, I asked him to let me move more things out of the way. Stepping next to him while he was still bending over looking, I reached in the towel drawing the flash unit out into the dimly illuminated saddlebag. I pressed the test button and the flash fired. It was a brilliant flash with a soft popping sound that seemed to be amplified in the saddlebag. J.C. thought he had been “bit” (electrocuted) by
the power unit. Once he stopped jumping around, like a crack head attempting the “White boy wiggle”, and realizing he was still upright, conscious, and breathing, he nearly collapsed with relief. When it dawned on the others I had caused it, they laughed so hard they cried.
When the flash fired, J.C. jumped. For the briefest moment, he actually appeared to be levitating in the air. His body responding in anticipation of a shock, by trying to curl at hyper speed into a fetal position while standing. We learned several things that evening.
- J.C. had a healthy heart.
- He was capable of levitation if needed.
- I am an ass. (as declared by him)
- Cops can cry crocodile tears while laughing.
Sometimes it’s enjoyable to recall the good memories from long ago.
Comments welcome,
That was fun reading, Ron.
Thank you Anne. I’m glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for the comment and the like.
I loaded this page earlier today but didn’t have a chance to read it until now (6:25 p.m.). So after I read it and scrolled down, I saw that NO ONE had “liked” it or commented. I thought to myself, Serves him right! What a meanie! LOL! But then I remembered, oops, gotta refresh the page. So I did, and see now that you had all of 4 “likes” before me. Ron, I’m kinda glad I don’t live near you. You’ve got a, well, helluva sense of humour! 😀 😀 Come to my site and read my post of today, it’s funny too but kinder! 😀 https://crossedeyesanddottedtees.wordpress.com/2017/06/01/laughter-the-universal-language-17/
Thanks Ellie, your visits always bring a smile to my face. I’m heading there nonw.
That was just too funny Ellie, I enjoyed the post on your blog.
I also recall that ‘black humour’ from my days as an EMT. When you do something so stressful as working for the emergency services, that really helps to lighten the load.
Best wishes, Pete.
It was a good thing to do once in a while. One of the officers backed into a pole one shift. It dented the left rear fender a little. Another officer located a huge novelty band-aid about 2 foot long and placed it on the guys car. You should have seen his face when he came out of roll-can and went to his patrol vehicle. Thanks for the comment Pete, and it’s great you could relate to it.
That is funny!
I’m glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for the like and comment this evening.
Ron,
I like your new blog font and the comment box. Everything seems so clear now. Never seen this used on any other blog before.
The flash story was really funny- of course, not for JC. I would have jumped too.
Do you have reunions with your old friends- like JC ?
Susie
Not very often, Police work is a fickle creature. Once your out of active duty, you seldom see the guys. You fall into a category much like the spouse of an officer, or a war veteran. They don’t want to burden you, or risk ridicule. They will do anything possible for an ex officer, but they just don’t seek out those that are not serving and risking their lives alongside them. It is a very strange relationship that occurs.
I’m glad that you like the comment box, I tweaked the border, the main post comment button, changed the color from base white to a blue and enlarged reply button,. It seems to make the page brighter when commenting. Also, posters should now be able to edit their comments when needed for 24hrs.
Thanks for the comment and like Susie, have a great night.
Wowwwwwwwww Ron, I’m so proud of you. How long were you a police officer?
I was in law-enforcement of all kinds for right at 24 Years. Thanks for the question and comment tonight. I appreciate it.
Hey Ron, it is good to have memories like that one! Laughing till you cry is the best! Enjoyed the story.
Thank you tripleclicka, I’m glad you liked it. I appreciate your visit and comments.
Those of us of the thin blue line can really make life challenging for our brethren. You awakened reflections to the past Ron.
Thanks Rooster, It’s just the nature of the profession. You can try to stay “in the loop” but it never feels genuine in the long run.
I can imagine a whole series of posts about pranks. I am thinking of some of my own now.
I may think of some more later. I bet you have some in the past you could post a series on.