He flips through his mental index of jobs that didn't involve fire, injuries, or harrowing escapes, and narrowed them down to ones that involved puppies, kittens, and children. Sometimes those stories do come in handy.
"Well. This actually happened not too long ago. We get a call one afternoon, seemed like a routine thing. Jump into the truck, speed off uptown. But Lou, he's lookin' pretty damn amused about something. He even tells our driver kinda jokingly, 'Slow down, we're in no rush.' And we're like, slow down? What? Why? We ask him what the call is and the only thing he says is that we were gonna like this one. Ummm, okay?
"So. We get to our destination-- our driver didn't slow down, by the way. But we get to a school, and it's recess, and there's all these kids out in the playground. Some of 'em come say hi to us, others direct us to the situation at hand. And we see a cop car parked by a tree. And there's this cop staring up at the tree. Apparently there's something very interesting going on in this tree, so me and the rest of the crew, we come over and gather around, and we look up and-- we start laughing. We just-- start cracking up like crazy.
"Lou goes up to the cop and says, as cheerful as a wiseass, 'What seems to be the problem, officer?' 'Cause let's face it, that's what everybody wants to say to a policeman.
"Needless to say the cop gives him dirty look. Cop says, 'These kids saw a cat stuck in this tree, and my partner figured he could get it down.'
"Lou says to the cop, still cheerful, 'Oh, really? And where's your partner now?'
"Of course, we all know where he is: stuck up in the tree, about thirty feet above the ground, sitting on a branch, as pissed off as you please. The cat's there, too, about five or six feet further outta reach. Sure, the cat's pissed off as well, but the cop looks like he's gonna punch someone in the face.
"So yeah, we savor this moment for a while, during which the cop and I exchange a few pleasantries, and by pleasantries I mean a few sarcastic remarks and a middle finger. When we finally get the ladder set up, I tell the Probie to save the cat first, and to take his time.
"The cat was fine except for being a little rattled. The cop was fine except for a severely bruised ego."
Tommy pauses and grins, his smile spreading against her hair.
no subject
"Well. This actually happened not too long ago. We get a call one afternoon, seemed like a routine thing. Jump into the truck, speed off uptown. But Lou, he's lookin' pretty damn amused about something. He even tells our driver kinda jokingly, 'Slow down, we're in no rush.' And we're like, slow down? What? Why? We ask him what the call is and the only thing he says is that we were gonna like this one. Ummm, okay?
"So. We get to our destination-- our driver didn't slow down, by the way. But we get to a school, and it's recess, and there's all these kids out in the playground. Some of 'em come say hi to us, others direct us to the situation at hand. And we see a cop car parked by a tree. And there's this cop staring up at the tree. Apparently there's something very interesting going on in this tree, so me and the rest of the crew, we come over and gather around, and we look up and-- we start laughing. We just-- start cracking up like crazy.
"Lou goes up to the cop and says, as cheerful as a wiseass, 'What seems to be the problem, officer?' 'Cause let's face it, that's what everybody wants to say to a policeman.
"Needless to say the cop gives him dirty look. Cop says, 'These kids saw a cat stuck in this tree, and my partner figured he could get it down.'
"Lou says to the cop, still cheerful, 'Oh, really? And where's your partner now?'
"Of course, we all know where he is: stuck up in the tree, about thirty feet above the ground, sitting on a branch, as pissed off as you please. The cat's there, too, about five or six feet further outta reach. Sure, the cat's pissed off as well, but the cop looks like he's gonna punch someone in the face.
"So yeah, we savor this moment for a while, during which the cop and I exchange a few pleasantries, and by pleasantries I mean a few sarcastic remarks and a middle finger. When we finally get the ladder set up, I tell the Probie to save the cat first, and to take his time.
"The cat was fine except for being a little rattled. The cop was fine except for a severely bruised ego."
Tommy pauses and grins, his smile spreading against her hair.
"That was a good day."