A conversation from the flood

Many of you know that I have the "opportunity" to have many entertaining conversations as a part of my job. During the course of the high waters in June I had my share of "special" conversations with people who obviously had no idea what was going on. Here is just one of those tales.

During the height of the flooding with the water flowing over 900 cubic feet per second (that's roughly 77,760,000 gallons a day) the retaining wall behind the shed at Waterside was knocked over and pulled into the river. This resulted in substantial erosion that was continuing at a pace of about 1 foot every 15 minutes. When the wall fell the Fire Department notified me that we had 3 hours till the shed was going to be in the river. The erosion had also gotten dangerously close to a large tree and they were concerned that the tree might tip over. The tree was so large that if it fell it would have crossed the road and hit at least a parking structure.

Because of these concerns the Fire Department closed a portion of our parking lot and had it roped off with Police Tape, you know the stuff that says "Police Line, DO NOT CROSS!" On top of this the emergency management people felt that it was enough of a public safety issue that they stationed a Police Officer in the complex to keep people away and to notify the Emergency Operations Center if something changed.

At some point during the knight while the office was stationed here a resident in the complex was out walking his dog. He apparently decided he knew better than who ever had put up the tape and decided to cross the tape so he could walk his dog around the sidewalk. He was confronted by the Police Officer and in turn decided to call me and complain about his experience.

When he called me he maintained that he had no intention of getting close to the shed but was just going to walk around the sidewalk. When he crossed the Police Line the Officer exited his vehicle and told him he needed to get back behind the Police Line. The resident proceeded, by his own admission, to disagree with the Officer and tried to argue that he was just going to walk through and wouldn't do it again. The Officer obviously didn't accept this and told him he needed to get behind the Police Line or he would be arrested.

This is the reason the gentleman was calling me, to tell me he thought the cop was rude for threatening to arrest him for crossing the Police Line. After having explained the circumstances to me the conversation went something like this;

Him: "Yeah the cop was just a real a#%hole and threatened to arrest me for it."
Me: Silence.
Him: "Are you there?"
Me: "Yeah"
Him: "Did you hear what I said?"
Me: "Yeah? Perhaps I am misunderstanding. Let me make sure that I understand the situation correctly. There is an issue involving public safety and as a result the Police Department has erected a Police Line and stationed a Police Officer in the area to keep people away. You crossed the Police Line and the officer threatened to arrest you if you wouldn't leave the area. Is that correct?"
Him: "Yeah!"
Me: "And what do you want me to do about this?"
Him: "Well he was kind of an A-Hole about it."
Me: "So you argued with him about leaving the area and he got firm or rude with you, right?"
Him: Somewhat sheepishly now, "Yeah."
Me: "I am sorry but there isn't anything that I think I can or will do about that. The Police have erected that line for a reason and I can't tell them to change what they are doing. They are trying to keep people out for their own safety, if that tree falls into the property it's going to do some damage no matter what direction it goes. I am not sure what you expected or wanted me to do but I don't think it's going to happen."
Him: "Well, when you put it that way it makes sense."
Me: "When I put it that way? Again, maybe I am missing something but is there really another way to put it?"
Him: "Well, no. I just thought that maybe he could have handled it differently."
Me: "Maybe he could have but put it into perspective. There is major flooding going on, a retaining wall fell resulting in significant damage and a public safety hazard. A Police Line has been erected and you have been assigned to guard it. A large guy crosses the line and argues with you about whether or not he should be allowed to keep going through it. How would you react?"
Him: "Probably the same way."

In hind sight it was entertaining. At the time it was another in a long string of dumb calls and irrational concerns.

The Month From Hell Is Over!

June was a really bad month. At the condo complex I manage we had everything from flooding in the Little Cottonwood Creek to a water main break to my truck getting crashed to bad landscapers and many other problems.

I will go into more detail on each of these subjects in later posts.

During the month of June a frequent comment was that I should right a book. A book about the stupid things people say to me and about all my various experiences. I think that is something I will consider doing down the road when I have had enough experiences but I think this blog will now become a place to help me keep those stories and thoughts consolidated.