Transit Cops Say the Darndest Things

Just when I think that life has become pretty predictable, something happens that surprises the hell out of me.

The family and I were in our local coffee shop the other day enjoying a mid-afternoon snack, when in walk three transit cops.  Our preschooler was ecstatic.  Real!  Live!  Policemen!  Right there in front of him.  They pretty much made his day just by choosing the same coffee shop as us.

The owner, who knows us fairly well (Not that we go to coffee shops a lot...Ahem.), began making jokes along the lines of "No officer, don't arrest the boy, he didn't do anything wrong!"

Needless to say, the transit cops weren't terribly amused.  I think they'd heard the joke before.  They smiled awkwardly, and said nothing.  The joke died.

Weighted silence.

Now here's the part where I have to explain something about the husband and I.  We're not generally the type of people to skulk away when people don't find our humour amusing.  We think we're pretty funny (even if it's only in our own minds), and woe betide the people who don't agree.  So instead of letting the sleeping joke lie, we have a tendency steamroller right over any stiff-necked louts.  So, when our son innocently asked us how the policemen got there, we piped up in full stage voices:

"Maybe they rode in on a helicopter!" my husband exclaimed.

"Maybe they rode in on a submarine!"  I pursued.

By this time, the transit cops were right next to us, stirring sugar into their coffees and finding lids.  The younger of the three, and the one closest to our table turned to us and said:

"Maybe we rode in on a UNICORN!"

I have to say, that is not where I thought this conversation was going.  The husband and I burst out laughing.  The cops walked away with smiles on their faces.

I learned a very old, but nonetheless important, lesson that day:  Even the most formal, staid people can surprise you when you least expect it.

Comments

[Beck]

I am scared WITLESS by police officers. Like, PHOBIC. And yet I am not a criminal. So I would probably be hiding under the table while you guys cracked wise....
I answered your question in an email, although I still might blog about it too!

[Lisa b]

oh how fun for the boy!
We are pretty obnoxious too but, like Beck, I can be intimidated so I'm not sure I would break out into full actor mode. Hard to say.
My kid keeps asking about the parking police and I know its bad but I keep telling her not nice things about them.

[mamatulip]

Hmmm...when you said policemen and unicorns, I thought of the most recent Harold and Kumar movie immediately. Not what you were talking about, eh?

[Woman in a window]

It's great when that happens, someone welcomes themself into your game. Great!

[Don Mills Diva]

Cute story - it kinda warms my heart because, like Beck, I'm kinda scared of police officers.

I'm not sure why but it's getting worse and worse the older I get...