THREATENED WITH ARREST, JUST ANOTHER DAY ON THE JOB!!!!
Well tonight finds me at a hotel in Waynesburg, Pa, South of Pittsburgh. It’s about 9pm, and I, in theory should have been almost back to the barn in Leesport. It started out as such a nice trip and of 8 drops, the first 6 were all within a half hour or so of each other and the final 2 here in Waynesburg were only a little more than an hour from my 6th drop. By 12:30 this afternoon I was already at my 4th stop of the day, and I thought I’d almost certainly be able to get home tonight. But it turned out at this 4th stop, there was a truck (not an Ashley) that had just pulled in and was getting unloaded. They estimated 2 hours till he was done and gosh darn, they were right! So there is nothing I can do, except to hurry up and wait. As time goes on, I start to do the can I get the rest done today math in my head and with each passing moment the answer leans toward no. The final two stops in Waynesburg are only open till 5 and I still have 2 more stops ahead of them. I decide to just relax, turn on the TV and have a sandwich (homemade by my lovely Wife) and also use the time to call ahead to my next stop and make sure I know where I’m going and where I need to be when I get there. It’s rare now to not know one or more of my stops on a trip, but in this case I have not been to this particular store and I like to be prepared as possible. And as I sit there my thoughts to turn to what else I could be doing instead of watching Jerry Springer? I thought about how I started out updating my blog, maybe I should write stuff....but nah, nothing really worth writing about has happened. Things are going well and as smooth as I could hope for minus the waiting around. Until I arrived at drop 5.
Right at 2:30, it was my turn to be unloaded and after 45 pieces of mostly large dressers and cabinets and 45 minutes more of time passing, I departed the on the 4 or so miles to my next stop. "Should go quickly now J!" I told myself since this next stop was only 7 pieces and I knew I would be able to drop em and go. This store was in a shopping center and from what I understood from the guy on the phone, I was to pull out front of the store instead of going around back as we usually do 95% of the time. Although only 4 miles, it takes a good 15 minutes or so as it’s downtown Pittsburgh, and there is much traffic, many lights and way to skinny roads for my taste. But I spot the shopping center and quickly devise a plan as how to enter. I pick the easiest, make a right and come up towards the front of the shops, but this place has cars parked right up to the curb the whole way, except for a part just at the end, in front of a bank. In fact I remembered the guy on the phone saying something about the bank. So I pull up and set the brakes and instantly this older gentleman dressed in a fancy attire starts yelling "Hey you can’t park that here, You’re blocking the cameras!" Okay, I calmly inform him I going to make a quick call and see where the store wants me. He seems okay with this but again mentions I don’t care where you go, but you ain’t parking here. The dude in the store says he’ll be right out and I have not even hung up the phone and look to my left and there is a guy standing there from the store. I was like hey man, where do you want me and he’s like "right here". "But this guy here says I can’t park here." He quickly replies "We have permission from the landlord to accept deliveries here as long as it’s 15 minutes or less." Sounds good to me, but I’m concerned about how my security guard friend may feel about this, so I shout out the window "Hey, is it alright if we quick unload?" I did this for two reasons, to see how he might react, and as I thought might happen, have the store guys witness him freak out and hopefully let them deal with it. He’s still standing there on the curb, even facing me, but didn’t seem to hear me so I said the heck with it, shut the engine off and opened the door. As the last cylinder in the engine stopped turning and it became apparent to the security man that I wasn’t moving, all heck broke loose.
Now, I admit I could see this bank rent-a-cops point, my truck and trailer probably were blocking his surveillance cameras. I thought of asking him if how’s about we get wild and crazy today and take a chance that for the next 15 minutes, no one will attempt to rob your bank, and I could just do my job and be on my merry way. Or maybe I could have tried being funny, put on some dark shades, whipped out my cell phone and quickly spoke "Cameras successfully blocked, move, move move!" you know, Hollywood style. But getting a word in edgewise would have been impossible, as this man went ballistic! He started yelling at me, then the store guys tried to explain about the landlord permission thing, he didn’t care, he just got louder and louder. Making a complete scene loud. As I took in what was happening, I noticed People walking to and fro, were all taking notice to this mans wild tirade. He threatened to call the police, the store guys said go ahead, and he finally entered the bank to do just that. I climbed in the trailer and took 5 sofas to the back, then was trying to get two really heavy and really big boxes off of sofas (standing upright). I was having trouble and cursing the loaders for doing dumb stuff like this. As I was struggling, the security guy comes to the back of the trailer. Hey I needed a break anyhow, so I walk to see what he has to say. He pulls out a badge, in his wallet and all, and informs me it is not a police badge, but a Pittsburgh detective badge. "I asked you to move, you didn’t move and now the police have been called and you and your company are both getting a ticket." What the badge had to do with it, I’m not sure. Maybe I could get him into trouble for impersonating a police officer? Even if I was about to get a ticket, I’m fairly certain my company would have taken care of it so I really wasn’t worried and just told the guy, "okay, thanks." I think he may have been trying to get a reaction from me from the time I pulled up, and I was not about to engage him now, however fun it might have been. I finally got those heavy awkwardly loaded boxes to the rear of the trailer and just as I was hopping off onto the ground, I saw the Police cruiser pull into the lot.
I start walking to where the Cop parked, as does the complainant. Before the cop reaches us, or even has time to speak, the security guy starts back into his loud scene causing, baby waking tirade. He’s screaming about the truck being parked here, it’s clearly marked no parking, it’s blocking his camera’s, and he is really loud, and he is really directing his anger at poor little me. When he ran out of breath, I quickly informed the Officer I was already unloaded and ready to roll as soon as I get my paperwork. Security guy starts screaming again and now he’s adding that he is in fact, a retired police officer and he knows how things work. It’s about this time I catch the Cops eye and he gives the look that confirms he thinks this guy is a complete lunatic also, and the Cop tells him to calm down, the guy won’t, so the cop asks me to just go. I really thought this guy just might get himself arrested for being such an ass, which really would have made my day, but no such luck.
After I received my paperwork, the officer informed me that in the future, try to park elsewhere and please try to get moving along as quickly as you can. I thanked him and closed my trailer doors and boogied on outta there. It’s amazing to me that someone would not be rational, let me just spend a quick few minutes where I was and be gone before you know it. Instead he has to call the police, who we all know in downtown P-Burgh must have bigger fish to fry then a truck parked in a shopping center, and a truck that was not blocking any kind of traffic flow I might add. I figure one of two things triggered this guys little episode: number one, he could have had a bad experience with a truck, maybe someone cut him off or maybe he’s just a truck hater; or most likely, he is a rent-a-cop with one strong power trip. Either way, the whole thing was quite comedic and it added some spice to my day. The real Cop was really cool, and I wasn’t really worried about dealing with him when he arrived because of a few other experiences I had with Officers of the law, some of which I will recall here soon, since they are certainly worthy of retelling. Oh, and the rest of the day, smooth as could be. And quiet.
Well tonight finds me at a hotel in Waynesburg, Pa, South of Pittsburgh. It’s about 9pm, and I, in theory should have been almost back to the barn in Leesport. It started out as such a nice trip and of 8 drops, the first 6 were all within a half hour or so of each other and the final 2 here in Waynesburg were only a little more than an hour from my 6th drop. By 12:30 this afternoon I was already at my 4th stop of the day, and I thought I’d almost certainly be able to get home tonight. But it turned out at this 4th stop, there was a truck (not an Ashley) that had just pulled in and was getting unloaded. They estimated 2 hours till he was done and gosh darn, they were right! So there is nothing I can do, except to hurry up and wait. As time goes on, I start to do the can I get the rest done today math in my head and with each passing moment the answer leans toward no. The final two stops in Waynesburg are only open till 5 and I still have 2 more stops ahead of them. I decide to just relax, turn on the TV and have a sandwich (homemade by my lovely Wife) and also use the time to call ahead to my next stop and make sure I know where I’m going and where I need to be when I get there. It’s rare now to not know one or more of my stops on a trip, but in this case I have not been to this particular store and I like to be prepared as possible. And as I sit there my thoughts to turn to what else I could be doing instead of watching Jerry Springer? I thought about how I started out updating my blog, maybe I should write stuff....but nah, nothing really worth writing about has happened. Things are going well and as smooth as I could hope for minus the waiting around. Until I arrived at drop 5.
Right at 2:30, it was my turn to be unloaded and after 45 pieces of mostly large dressers and cabinets and 45 minutes more of time passing, I departed the on the 4 or so miles to my next stop. "Should go quickly now J!" I told myself since this next stop was only 7 pieces and I knew I would be able to drop em and go. This store was in a shopping center and from what I understood from the guy on the phone, I was to pull out front of the store instead of going around back as we usually do 95% of the time. Although only 4 miles, it takes a good 15 minutes or so as it’s downtown Pittsburgh, and there is much traffic, many lights and way to skinny roads for my taste. But I spot the shopping center and quickly devise a plan as how to enter. I pick the easiest, make a right and come up towards the front of the shops, but this place has cars parked right up to the curb the whole way, except for a part just at the end, in front of a bank. In fact I remembered the guy on the phone saying something about the bank. So I pull up and set the brakes and instantly this older gentleman dressed in a fancy attire starts yelling "Hey you can’t park that here, You’re blocking the cameras!" Okay, I calmly inform him I going to make a quick call and see where the store wants me. He seems okay with this but again mentions I don’t care where you go, but you ain’t parking here. The dude in the store says he’ll be right out and I have not even hung up the phone and look to my left and there is a guy standing there from the store. I was like hey man, where do you want me and he’s like "right here". "But this guy here says I can’t park here." He quickly replies "We have permission from the landlord to accept deliveries here as long as it’s 15 minutes or less." Sounds good to me, but I’m concerned about how my security guard friend may feel about this, so I shout out the window "Hey, is it alright if we quick unload?" I did this for two reasons, to see how he might react, and as I thought might happen, have the store guys witness him freak out and hopefully let them deal with it. He’s still standing there on the curb, even facing me, but didn’t seem to hear me so I said the heck with it, shut the engine off and opened the door. As the last cylinder in the engine stopped turning and it became apparent to the security man that I wasn’t moving, all heck broke loose.
Now, I admit I could see this bank rent-a-cops point, my truck and trailer probably were blocking his surveillance cameras. I thought of asking him if how’s about we get wild and crazy today and take a chance that for the next 15 minutes, no one will attempt to rob your bank, and I could just do my job and be on my merry way. Or maybe I could have tried being funny, put on some dark shades, whipped out my cell phone and quickly spoke "Cameras successfully blocked, move, move move!" you know, Hollywood style. But getting a word in edgewise would have been impossible, as this man went ballistic! He started yelling at me, then the store guys tried to explain about the landlord permission thing, he didn’t care, he just got louder and louder. Making a complete scene loud. As I took in what was happening, I noticed People walking to and fro, were all taking notice to this mans wild tirade. He threatened to call the police, the store guys said go ahead, and he finally entered the bank to do just that. I climbed in the trailer and took 5 sofas to the back, then was trying to get two really heavy and really big boxes off of sofas (standing upright). I was having trouble and cursing the loaders for doing dumb stuff like this. As I was struggling, the security guy comes to the back of the trailer. Hey I needed a break anyhow, so I walk to see what he has to say. He pulls out a badge, in his wallet and all, and informs me it is not a police badge, but a Pittsburgh detective badge. "I asked you to move, you didn’t move and now the police have been called and you and your company are both getting a ticket." What the badge had to do with it, I’m not sure. Maybe I could get him into trouble for impersonating a police officer? Even if I was about to get a ticket, I’m fairly certain my company would have taken care of it so I really wasn’t worried and just told the guy, "okay, thanks." I think he may have been trying to get a reaction from me from the time I pulled up, and I was not about to engage him now, however fun it might have been. I finally got those heavy awkwardly loaded boxes to the rear of the trailer and just as I was hopping off onto the ground, I saw the Police cruiser pull into the lot.
I start walking to where the Cop parked, as does the complainant. Before the cop reaches us, or even has time to speak, the security guy starts back into his loud scene causing, baby waking tirade. He’s screaming about the truck being parked here, it’s clearly marked no parking, it’s blocking his camera’s, and he is really loud, and he is really directing his anger at poor little me. When he ran out of breath, I quickly informed the Officer I was already unloaded and ready to roll as soon as I get my paperwork. Security guy starts screaming again and now he’s adding that he is in fact, a retired police officer and he knows how things work. It’s about this time I catch the Cops eye and he gives the look that confirms he thinks this guy is a complete lunatic also, and the Cop tells him to calm down, the guy won’t, so the cop asks me to just go. I really thought this guy just might get himself arrested for being such an ass, which really would have made my day, but no such luck.
After I received my paperwork, the officer informed me that in the future, try to park elsewhere and please try to get moving along as quickly as you can. I thanked him and closed my trailer doors and boogied on outta there. It’s amazing to me that someone would not be rational, let me just spend a quick few minutes where I was and be gone before you know it. Instead he has to call the police, who we all know in downtown P-Burgh must have bigger fish to fry then a truck parked in a shopping center, and a truck that was not blocking any kind of traffic flow I might add. I figure one of two things triggered this guys little episode: number one, he could have had a bad experience with a truck, maybe someone cut him off or maybe he’s just a truck hater; or most likely, he is a rent-a-cop with one strong power trip. Either way, the whole thing was quite comedic and it added some spice to my day. The real Cop was really cool, and I wasn’t really worried about dealing with him when he arrived because of a few other experiences I had with Officers of the law, some of which I will recall here soon, since they are certainly worthy of retelling. Oh, and the rest of the day, smooth as could be. And quiet.
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