Why I Love New York - Reason #34

The NYPD is absolutely amazing!  They are dedicated to their work and a constant presence around the city and, occasionally, they are part of a hilarious moment in your life like they were for me last week.

Last week I was taking an exam to get my Life, Health, Accidental Death and Dismemberment insurance licenses and their instructions very clearly stated that nothing would be allowed in the testing room with you.  I pondered this the morning of the exam and started digging up the phone number for the center to find out if they would have lockers or any other place to securely store your belongings during the test.  My test was to start at 9:00 and it generally takes about 2 hours.  My gallant husband advised that I didn't need to call them and that he would simply bring my purse to me at the testing center at 11:00 and we would go to lunch before I returned to the office.  I was tickled pink and kissed him goodbye on my way to the testing center.  I took my test, passed with flying colors, and was downstairs waiting outside the building at 10:56. 

At 11:10 I walked to the corner and started looking both ways for my husband but didn't see him.  At 11:15 I went back inside and asked the security guard if I could use the phone to call him (my cell phone was in my purse, of course) and was denied.  At 11:25 I walked to a pay phone and started trying to trick it into letting me make a free phone call to no avail.  At 11:29 I started contemplating something I had never considered before: begging for change from strangers so I could make a phone call.  Right about the time I started looking around for a nice stranger who might understand my predicament and give me a quarter I saw my husband running down the street, purse in hand.  As he ran up to me he said, "Did you know that if you are a man walking down the street with a woman's purse the police will stop you for purse snatching?"

Wow.  No, I did not know that!  Apparently as he was walking through the subway with my purse he was stopped for questioning.  The police were incredibly polite and advised him that since he was more than willing to cooperate with them and answer their questions he was obviously not a purse snatcher and they let him go on his way.  We had a good laugh over it and I took him to a tasty BBQ place nearby to say thank you for braving embarrassment and police interrogation to bring my things to me after my test.

As much as it is funny it is also quite wonderful to know that the police are looking out for the citizens of our city by keeping an eye out for situations that are a bit out of the ordinary!  In fact this is the second such incident we've had with police inquiry into an innocent event.  The other was when a friend of ours hosted a post-apocalyptic theme party and we went as zombies.  I even decorated a cake to look like a brain!  We covered our faces with fake blood, green make-up and blacked out our eyes and had a great time.  Over the course of the evening my husband managed to wipe off most of the make-up on his face but mine stayed pretty much intact.  On the walk home we were stopped by the police to make sure that I was okay and not injured.  Once I figured out why they stopped me I laughed and explained the party and told them I would bring them there to see the event if they wanted and that there was even a policeman at the party wearing a gas mask and carrying a machete as his costume.  They let us go on our way once they knew I was safe and did not need medical attention.

I love that I live somewhere that the police are a constant presence.  I lived in Dallas for 24 years and the only time I ever saw a police officer was when I was being pulled over for speeding.  It is comforting to live somewhere that you can actually see the efforts of law enforcement on a regular basis.  It takes away quite a lot of the reputation they have for being "the man" that some people seem to be so unhappy about when you see them catch a criminal or pull someone out of a dangerous situation or even just have them inquire about your basic day-to-day safety.