We went into town and attended the Canada Day festivities at the local museum--Miss Linda is on the Board of Directors and was kinda expected to attend. Had a great time looking at all the "old" exhibits (the area is less than 150 years old) and watching the dancing put on by the Indians. This band broke away from a large reserve and settled in a more remote area. They live by the old ways--semi isolated, no booze, no drugs, and it was only recently they allowed televisions. Nice bunch of people, great dancing by all ages.
The young'un, Orion, was in his glory with all the other kids there and was constantly taking off and joining various family groups, so we were kept hopping keeping track of, and corralling, him. Late afternoon, he was powering out so we headed for the parking area. As Miss Linda was getting him strapped in, 2 RCMP officers showed up to question us. Huh??
Seems somebody was watching him always "running away" from us, got suspicious, and reported us to the cops as possible child kidnappers. The officers were very friendly, not aggressive, and acted professionally. They explained the complaint and began to question us about our relationship with Orion. At one point they said they hoped we were OK with their investigation--to which we both replied that not only were we OK with it, but very pleased to see them checking us out--that there were way too many scumbags out there grabbing and harming kids. I immediately offered our driver licenses as proof if ID, and offered to answer any and all their questions. The conversation then became more of a friendly chat. We described that we were his grandparents (Orion conveniently called me Grampa about then), that his mother was a single mom, and that we frequently took him for a couple of weeks to give her a break. The officer asked for her name and number. And that was that--we were on our way.
After we left, they called my step-daughter to confirm what we had told them. She just laughed and told them that all was good. Thank God she and I weren't fighting that particular day, or it probably would have been the Crowbar Hotel for me--she can be just a tad vindictive.
All in all, it was really nice to see two young police officers quickly arriving to investigate a possible child abduction. Amid all the negative publicity the RCMP, and police in general, are getting it warmed the heart to see 2 caring and polite officers acting like the Police Officers when I was a child.
Gary
The young'un, Orion, was in his glory with all the other kids there and was constantly taking off and joining various family groups, so we were kept hopping keeping track of, and corralling, him. Late afternoon, he was powering out so we headed for the parking area. As Miss Linda was getting him strapped in, 2 RCMP officers showed up to question us. Huh??
Seems somebody was watching him always "running away" from us, got suspicious, and reported us to the cops as possible child kidnappers. The officers were very friendly, not aggressive, and acted professionally. They explained the complaint and began to question us about our relationship with Orion. At one point they said they hoped we were OK with their investigation--to which we both replied that not only were we OK with it, but very pleased to see them checking us out--that there were way too many scumbags out there grabbing and harming kids. I immediately offered our driver licenses as proof if ID, and offered to answer any and all their questions. The conversation then became more of a friendly chat. We described that we were his grandparents (Orion conveniently called me Grampa about then), that his mother was a single mom, and that we frequently took him for a couple of weeks to give her a break. The officer asked for her name and number. And that was that--we were on our way.
After we left, they called my step-daughter to confirm what we had told them. She just laughed and told them that all was good. Thank God she and I weren't fighting that particular day, or it probably would have been the Crowbar Hotel for me--she can be just a tad vindictive.
All in all, it was really nice to see two young police officers quickly arriving to investigate a possible child abduction. Amid all the negative publicity the RCMP, and police in general, are getting it warmed the heart to see 2 caring and polite officers acting like the Police Officers when I was a child.
Gary
