That's Why We Pay Our Taxes

A funny thing happened at Tim Horton’s today. It is a cold and rainy day, so I really needed a coffee. I was pulling into a parking spot and a woman with an EMS uniform walked right in front of the car so that I had to wait while she sauntered like some cow waddling back to the barn to get milked. OK, that was a little harsh, but she came between me and coffee! Her partner was standing by the entrance in his shirt sleeves and she was carrying a jacket so of course I thought that she was getting his coat for him. Lazy civil servants!

I noticed that they didn’t go inside, and as I got closer I saw that there was a native man passed out at the base of the garbage bin. No comment! So this was a rescue mission, I was definitely too hard on the EMS. I can be a real dick at times. I had my book with me, but why would I read when I had a floor show to watch? I got my coffee and took a window seat.

Nothing much was happening, so I started to read when all of a sudden I hear sirens in the distance. Can’t be too far because I’m inside and my hearing just isn’t that good. Holy crap! Two cop cars with lights and sirens, boy someone is having a shitty morning. Wait! They just turned into the Tim’s parking lot. Oh goody, and I have a window seat!

I wonder what the deal is? Whoa, another car, no two more cars. Should I get under the table? Is that another ambulance? No, just a EMS supervisors car. WTF?

The cops jump out of their cars and run to the poor drunk guy that is passed out against the garbage can. Really? Come on! One of them even had his hand on the taser at his belt. Huh?

One cop came in and walked up to the table in front of mine where this guy had his head on his arms and was sleeping I suppose. Not bothering anyone except for the manager I guess. The cop asks him if he had been asked to leave and he said “No”. The cop told the manager to ask him to leave and she did. The cop says “You have to leave!” and the guy (another native) said that “You can’t arrest me I haven’t done anything.” “I am not arresting you, but you have to leave.”

The guy gets up and walks out and away. All of the other cops are milling about and the passed out guy is now on his feet and they walk him over to the ambulance with half the cops acting as escort. A few minutes pass and everyone of the cops and EMS have a coffee in their hands. Surprise!

I guess when this call was dispatched every car in the NE wanted to respond. This must have been a cops dream call, “ Trouble at the Westwinds Tim Horton’s, anyone want to respond?” So, there were three police cars and one police van, an ambulance and an EMS  supervisor’s car. That’s eight cops and three EMS to deal with one drunk native. So, to total it up, eight cops making roughly $36/hr and three EMS at about $25/hr works out to about $350, not counting the gas and time to write up a report. Not sure one drunk is worth it.

In the “Good old days” The owner would have given the drunks a coffee, maybe a sandwich and no one would have made an issue of it. I don’t know what to think. On the one hand, I don’t like to see drunks hanging around my Tim Horton’s. I’m not keen on seeing the cops there either. I guess if neither one group or the other bothers me I can live with the situation.

That’s why we pay our taxes…

PS. I went to the doctors today with a sore throat and a cough. My doctor tells me to drop my pants (?). She puts on some latex gloves, the stethoscope in her ears and grabs my right ball with her left hand. Turns out the best way to keep me quite while she listens to my chest is squeeze until tears start to come out of my eyes. I can appreciate that she might not want to hear me talking, but this can’t be standard medical procedure even though my last doctor did the same thing. It isn’t normal is it?

I should be walking normally within a week and I should be able to ride the bike by mid June.