by Tom Blair
Columnist

When I was the Chief of Police in Kenyon, Minnesota, back in the early 70’s, there was a federal program which allowed me to hire someone “unemployable” for minor jobs and extra help. In a small police department, there are always little things that take time away from patrol and investigations, and the jobs are aggravating: dog catching, dead animals on the streets, washing the squad car, cleaning, and organizing files are just some of the things that a part-timer could help with.

I had an Assistant Chief, a part-time patrolman and a reserve force, but no one to do those “dirty little jobs” that had to be done. One afternoon, someone from Social Services brought in a young handicapped man named Marv to work in the police department. Wait a minute… this guy didn’t have any fingers on either hand. “What could he do?” I thought to myself, as he sat in the chair in front of my desk. Well, I had him; I guess I better think of something for him to do!

I had never had to deal with a handicapped person before. Do I talk about his problem? Do I ask how it happened? Well, I decided to just use the “honest approach,” and believe me, this turned out to be the way to do it. I said, “What happened to your fingers?” He told me that when he was little, he and his dad got caught in a freezing snowstorm, and his dad left the car to get to a farm home and was carrying Marv. By the time they reached the farmhouse, Marv’s hands were frozen beyond repair.

I told him I didn’t know what he was capable of doing, but rather than ask him if he could do certain things every time I assigned a task, I would just assume he could do it until I found out different. I didn’t even know if he could unzip his pants without help; after all, all he had was a thumb on each hand. It was at that point that he reached into his shirt pocket, pulled out a pack of cigarettes, whipped off the cellophane, pulled out a cigarette, and lit it up with a Zippo lighter.

I gave him tasks as if he were normal. Well, he was more than normal – there was nothing he couldn’t do, including qualify with a pistol. He held the revolver handle between his left thumb and part of that hand, and pulled the trigger with the thumb of his opposite hand. He would shoot till his hand was bleeding, to get good enough to qualify. And he did. I never viewed him as handicapped again; he was a person, just like anybody else.

It’s kinda like the friend who was paralyzed; it seems horrible for us to not be able to do anything, but he enjoyed life, and after all, he still had a brain and a good mind and could do anything. Think about it! He said, “Don’t feel sorry for me – I have lots of good friends, and I can close my eyes and do anything. I can run along the warm beach, ride a motorcycle a hundred miles an hour around mountain curves, and even glide through the skies if I want.” And he is right… close your eyes for a minute and imagine whatever you can. Take a trip in your mind, and get away from self-pity, pain or boredom.

We all just need to remember that when we are down… and we will be, sometime.

Tom “Road” Blair

Website: www.tomroadblair.com