Crime Fighting Court Reporter
This past weekend I noticed a bag of pigeons being dragged through the middle of the street by a dog. What? Um, yes. I saw a bag containing three pigeons… a yellow, mesh bag… in the mouth of a dog… in the middle of the street. There was no sign of where the bag had come from. There were no neighbors nearby. There was no Candid Camera crew. It seemed to just appear from some strange Bag o' Pigeon Continuum. At the risk of being redundant: Sometimes creepy things happen right in front of you.
I'm not exactly up-to-speed on all pigeon law, but I had a vague sense that this was not legal. Something about cruelty to animals or something?
When You Are Faced With Something Extraordinary, What Do You Do?
- You do nothing
- You try to help
- You wait for someone else to figure out what to do then cheer them on
- You curl into the fetal position
Here Is What I Did
After the dog scurried away, leaving the bag alone, I approached and investigated its full contents. There were three pigeons in total, though only two were alive. I took the bag to my front yard and went into the garage to get a knife. I cut the bag and freed the two live pigeons. The first one scrambled out and immediately took to the air in a marvelous gesture as if to say, “I'm free!“ The second had to be coaxed out. He apparently had a broken leg or jetlag or something. He stumbled out and hobbled into the air like a damaged WWII fighter plane as if to say, “It's going to take more than being taken hostage in a mesh bag and eaten alive by a dog to ruin my day.“
I then gave the remaining deceased pigeon a proper burial in my side trash can. RIP.
And This Pertains To Court Reporting How Exactly?
So what does any of that story have to do with court reporting? I've included a video about a court reporter who encountered an extremely dangerous situation in his courtroom. A criminal facing two life sentences for drug dealing lunged for the criminal prosecutor. From the looks of it, the prosecutor is lucky to have survived. She was lucky to have had a trained court reporter nearby to save her life, is what I mean. The court reporter, Ron Tolkin of Brooklyn NY, said, “I think if he had the opportunity he would have cut her throat. I was trying to get him away from her. I was truly worried that he was going to choke her to death.“
Ron Tolkin aka Crime Fighting Court Reporter should be applauded for his valiant efforts in saving the prosecutor. On a rooftop somewhere in my neighborhood I'd like to think there are a couple of pigeons who would agree.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
