The school crossing guard sees Sampson and me banging the corner and starts yelling. “Hey, where ya going? Get ovah here.” So I explain to Sampson that we really should not ignore our friend in our rush to get the old folks home.
Sampson looks mildly annoyed, but we go up one half block to say hi to Officer Pete. “Jeez, where you guys been the last few days? I ain’t seen yzz all week fer crize aiks” he says in his rich Boston accent. He gives Sampson a big hug and scratch’s his head affectionately and of course, gives him the milk bone he’s been saving for him all week. He’s a little miffed at us. He said “Jeez, ya know I lit a candle for his Mom and Dad last week.” (That’s a Catholic thing, it’s basically the same thing as saying a prayer) So I tell him what I can and he seems pleased.
I tell him about the old folk’s home and how Sampson has been making everyone’s day there. “Jeez, fer crying out loud, ya could still stop here first ya know, it ain’t but a half a block.” Officer Pete is clearly miffed that we have not been to visit him in a week. Sampson is patient but getting restless and decides to go off for a sniff of the AO. Pete proceeds to tell me a story about one of his K-9 partners who took a bullet chasing a bad guy and nearly died. Apparently Pete shot the bad guy. He said “I called for 2 ambulances and I put Cahill (the Shepahhd) on the first one that arrived on scene. At first they wanted to take the bad guy. As Pete put it with a big smile, “It took a little convincing, ya know, but they came around fast!” I can just imagine.
Pete may be old, but he has the look of a tough guy. As we’re talking, we see (and hear) a fire truck and an ambulance pull into the old folk’s home. Which is not uncommon. Sampson alerts us to this by giving us his siren howl. Officer Pete thinks this is hysterical. A bunch of kids show up and he says “hold on there, I gotta cross these little baahstids.” Pete clearly loves his job. He also wants to talk. So he opens the gate to the house we’re standing in front of and says “Sampson can do his business in their yard, they ain’t home.” It’s a big house, with a big fenced in yard and so I take Sampson’s leash off and let him wander around. I tell him I should go with Sampson and pick up his poop. Pete will have none of that. He tells me “I hope he craps all over their yard, these people are baahstids, they never gotta nice word to say and I been here 3 year, they nevah once even said hi. I hope he craps on their front porch.”
Pete has more great stories and meanwhile Sampson is off exploring the big back yard. I decide that today may not be the best day to visit the old folk’s home. The fire truck and ambulance pull away with sirens blaring and I hear Sampson in the back yard doing his siren howl. So I talk to Pete for 20 minutes or so and Sampson shows up at the front gate. I can tell by looking at him that he’s done for the morning, so to speak, and now wants to go home for breakfast. I promise Pete that we will stop by Monday.
He says “You bettah, I like Sampson a lot and these freakin kids got no respect ya know.” We decide to leave before Pete starts to explain exactly what he means. “Have a great weekend Pete!”
