The Day Cops Changed My Life

Hello everyone . . . welcome!

Have you ever watched the show “Cops?” It’s been on for more than 20 years, so chances are you have. Do you wonder the same thing I do? What exactly do these people think when they see the episode in which they have been arrested drunk, high or whatever the case is? You know the drunks act off the charts. And the ones possessing drugs all think they are so smooth and smarter than the cops. Am I right?

A few years ago, I was watching an episode of “Cops”. The intro song begins to play; the opening images are flashing while the song is playing “Bad boys, bad boys, whatcha gonna do”. All of a sudden, a quick flash of a young girl catches my attention. She was very cute except for the black circles around her eyes from the obvious years of drug use. She couldn’t have been more than 17 years old. All I could think was . . . what a waste. Such a pretty girl and she is ruining her life with drugs. Something about her captured my soul and left me feeling sad for her. The reaction I felt for this girl, was completely out of my character.

It just so happened, that very episode was airing that night. So I learned a little more about the girl. The female officer had stopped her and another girl, who was the driver. Why? Because she saw the pretty girl, I just told you about, riding in the passenger seat. Not good. She talked to the driver. “How long have you known Rachael?” Rachael? Hummmm. She knew the girl by name. One more strike against Rachael. She told the cop “just about a week.” Cop: “you need to stay away from her. She is nothing but trouble.” Nice.

The driver is let go with another warning to say away from this Rachael unless she, too, wanted to end up in jail.

As the cop questions Rachael, every other word out of Rachael’s mouth was “I’m not gonna lie to you.” Yeah, right. No, she wasn’t going to a known crack house which was right up the corner. No, she wasn’t prostituting that night. No, she had no drugs on her. Oh, and “I’m not gonna lie to you.” The cop cuffed her and put her in the back seat for the time being. Evidently, she knew something was not right.

This is where Rachael shows just how much of a genius she truly is. Envision this: the crew of “Cops” is all there filming and there are two cops on the scene. Rachael then has a brilliant idea. She reaches in her thong – I know it’s a thong because as she was being searched her pants had slipped – and grabs her stash of pot and throws it on the back floor board of the cop car. Yes, a real genus, this girl. Yet, throughout all her stupidity, something about her drew my attention and it was as if I couldn’t look away.

The episode is over. She would continue to pop in to my mind over the next few days.

About 3 days later, I’m speaking with my mom. She tells me, “Guess what. I called Aunt Mae. Guess who was      on . . .“ I interrupted, “OMG, it’s Robin’s daughter!” Mom confirmed. I told her I knew exactly which one it was. You guessed it, Rachael. More specifically, this is Rachael my 2^nd cousin. I had not seen Rachael since she was 2 years old. Yet, I was just so drawn to this girl.

Yep, I have a family member on the opening episode of “Cops”. How many people can claim that “claim to fame”? Or maybe I should say “claim of shame”. OH, well.

PS. If you find yourself in my position, you might not want to lay claim to knowing your kin on the opening episode of cops. Just saying.

Until next time . . . Peace

A.J.