On the northwest corner of 4th and Lawrence Street, in Mount Vernon, Washington, there was a "weather-proof" switch on a utility pole. I know. I used to operate that switch. So did many others.
Not very amazing, I suppose, for then. But, you won't see anything like that happening today.
Like what?
Looking back, I myself am amazed. You see, that switch was a symbol of trust and hope and of faith . . . in young people. Something "the system" seems to have misplaced. "The system" must now "save the children" from all manner of unknown or "made-up" (invented) threats. There is no hope and trust or faith. There is only FEAR.
There was no lock on this switch. There was no alarm that sounded if anyone touched it. There was not even a video camera to take pictures of all those who came near it.
No. Just a simple switch. That anyone could come by and activate and perhaps cause problems or at least, inconvenience. No one did as far as I know.
And, if someone did cause trouble, the authorities could handle it without declaring "a crisis." They were like that then.
The years were 1952-54; the third, fourth, and fifth grades for me.
I was on the Schoolboy Patrol. My school was on the southeast corner of 4th Street and Lawrence Street. That's right, it was an old brick school with high ceilings, big windows, and large classrooms. It was Roosevelt Grade School.
Now 4th had another name back then. This was before the Interstate; before I-5. It was called Highway 99. It was the main road.
One of my posts on the patrol, was to safely escort my classmates across Highway 99 at the intersection with Lawrence Street. We were trained to wait for a break in the traffic, turn on the stop light (that's right, that's what the switch was for!), step out in the street with our "stop" flags, and then permit everyone to cross.
We were 10, 11, and 12 years old.
We did much the same at other intersections, but none of the others had that switch which controlled a stop light.
Some patrolboys rode on the school buses. They would be the first off the bus, go in front of the bus, and stand in the other lane with their stop flag before the other kids could leave the bus.
I don't remember any cops coming to my school for anything but a safety lecture (no, I don't mean "rubber" or condom). My recollection is that the lecture was fact and reason based, not fear and emotion oriented.
Law enforcement sponsored the Schoolboy Patrol. We got a pass to the movie theater(s) which entitled us to go to the Saturday Matinee for a dime.
We also got a week at a summer camp on Whidbey Island which I believe was run by the city police agencies, the county sheriffs' departments, and the state patrol. It was at Coronet Bay, next to Deception Pass.
I recall hiking to Cranberry Lake on a trail that passed under Highway 2 and swimming with my friends. I remember movies at night. Horseshoes and badminton. And campfires! (Yes, a "bon-fire").
How to live without being scared. How to do things. How to have fun. Was it really that hard?
My answer is, "not when you have decent people in charge!"
I moved away from Mount Vernon when I was 12, yet I can remember the name of the Chief of Police. His name was Don Landreth. His daughter went to my school. He was a tall man, over six feet. And, I think he was a giant in other ways too.
I knew a State Trooper also. He was a childhood friend of my parents and fishing buddy of my father. I don't think Gordon Shea had a mean bone in his body.
Somehow I can't imagine either man on a "swat" team. I believe that they could handle situations without a "swat" team. (Did anyone stop to ask how we got through 200 years without any)? My impression of all the "cops" in my young life was that they fixed problems. They did not make problems or capitalize upon them. They wanted to show us how to live and handle situations, not cower in fear. They were neighbors, fellow-citizens, and friends. We were not their "stock-in-trade" - - - someone they could get in trouble in order to make more work, better paying jobs, and bigger criminal-justice empires.
DARE? Are you out of your mind? I wonder what Gordon Shea and Don Landreth would have thought of cops in schools? Permit me to put words in their mouths. They would have told the school authorities, "You have a problem, fix it!"
In case you haven't guessed, I now have considerable distrust of law enforcement (There are good individuals still who are cops, but there are some who don't belong, and I suspect that the "system" itself has been corrupted which keeps good cops suppressed). I wonder if my distrust and suspicions are warranted?
Allow me to take you on a diversion. That's right, it has something to do with CO2. How'd you guess?