Another brother story.
Dec. 15th, 2008 11:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
spookyeviloneMy brothers are all military, and all huge beasts of men (the smallest is 6'4 and 300lbs). When they're not serving, they're ..still serving - several are cops, a few are emt's and one is a local fire marshal.
I used to get to do ride alongs, because I'm baby sister and I have them all well trained :P One ride along involved a call to a grocery store, for a disturbing the peace and possible shoplifting.
The perp was a tiny, confused, crying little old lady who'd just gone on foodstamps and didn't understand that they could only be used for certain foods. When the cashier wouldn't take them for the rather modest amount of groceries, a manager had been called over. He'd made such a loud, obnoxious fuss that the humiliated little old lady had tried to take her groceries and leave, leaving the foodstamps on the counter. They'd stopped her from leaving the store and called the police.
My brother whipped out his citation book, flipped it open, and industriously started writing. When he was done, he handed a check to the cashier for the amount of the lady's groceries.. and handed a citation to the manager for elder abuse. :)
The lady was crying harder and protesting that she could pay for her own groceries. My brother winked and said, "Sure you can! Just not here. This is clearly a low class kind of store. The manager doesn't even understand how food assistance works. We'll set you up at [other store]." She protested, the bus didn't go by that store. He said he had to go by there on his lunch break anyway and would be happy to drive her. She protested that too, but was clearly swaying. What won her over was the m'am. "M'am, my mother'd never let me back in the house if she heard what went down here today and that I didn't do something about it. I can, and I aim to, if you'll let me." The m'am gets them every time.
My brother drove the little old lady to [other store] every week. She made him lunch every time he came to pick her up. She didn't know it, but the other store wouldn't take food stamps for her brands either. They took hers, because my brother always paid her bill, collected the foodstamps later, and gave them to the homeless people he checked on.
When the little old lady died two years later, my brother met the granddaughter, who'd been away at college. She's been my sister-in-law for 23 years.
I'm blessed with a family of good people. It's helped me through a lot of rough times, to remember that there are still good people out there and that I'm lucky to be related to an entire family of them.
I used to get to do ride alongs, because I'm baby sister and I have them all well trained :P One ride along involved a call to a grocery store, for a disturbing the peace and possible shoplifting.
The perp was a tiny, confused, crying little old lady who'd just gone on foodstamps and didn't understand that they could only be used for certain foods. When the cashier wouldn't take them for the rather modest amount of groceries, a manager had been called over. He'd made such a loud, obnoxious fuss that the humiliated little old lady had tried to take her groceries and leave, leaving the foodstamps on the counter. They'd stopped her from leaving the store and called the police.
My brother whipped out his citation book, flipped it open, and industriously started writing. When he was done, he handed a check to the cashier for the amount of the lady's groceries.. and handed a citation to the manager for elder abuse. :)
The lady was crying harder and protesting that she could pay for her own groceries. My brother winked and said, "Sure you can! Just not here. This is clearly a low class kind of store. The manager doesn't even understand how food assistance works. We'll set you up at [other store]." She protested, the bus didn't go by that store. He said he had to go by there on his lunch break anyway and would be happy to drive her. She protested that too, but was clearly swaying. What won her over was the m'am. "M'am, my mother'd never let me back in the house if she heard what went down here today and that I didn't do something about it. I can, and I aim to, if you'll let me." The m'am gets them every time.
My brother drove the little old lady to [other store] every week. She made him lunch every time he came to pick her up. She didn't know it, but the other store wouldn't take food stamps for her brands either. They took hers, because my brother always paid her bill, collected the foodstamps later, and gave them to the homeless people he checked on.
When the little old lady died two years later, my brother met the granddaughter, who'd been away at college. She's been my sister-in-law for 23 years.
I'm blessed with a family of good people. It's helped me through a lot of rough times, to remember that there are still good people out there and that I'm lucky to be related to an entire family of them.