Website © 2003 by Tyler Carey
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The autistic girl
by Gareth Edel
And so there I was copping a squat next to a cop at the north end of Union Square, a common spot for people to stand or sit in front of a chain bookstore. You don't expect to have to reassure a cop, not simply due to his possession of the uniform, gun and body armor. But also because he is surrounded by an aura of confidence lent him by the mobile command center, and four or five other officers within a few yards.It occurs to me not everyone reading necessarily knows the phrase copping a squat. Well the words are defined in the American Heritage Dictionary as:
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Cop --- Pronunciation Key (kðp) --- Slang tr.v. copped, cop·ping, cops 1. To take unlawfully or without permission; steal. See Synonyms at steal. a. To get hold of; gain or win: a show that copped four awards; copped a ticket to the game. b. To take or catch: "copped a quick look at the gentleman in a caramel cashmere sport coat on the right" |
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Squat --- Pronunciation Key (skwðt v. squat·ted, squat·ting, squats 1. To sit in a crouching position with knees bent and the buttocks on or near the heels. 2. To crouch down, as an animal does. 3. To settle on unoccupied land without legal claim. 4. To occupy a given piece of public land in order to acquire title to it.
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I think the important phrases of those definitions are "to take without permission, occupy a given piece of public land, in a crouching position" though I would say sitting is more comfortable then actually squatting. Copping a squat is basically another name for stooping, or sitting around or loitering in a public place, but not necessarily where one is supposed to be.
For example one wouldn't generally refer to sitting on a park bench as copping a squat, but it wouldn't be wrong. You would certainly refer to sitting on the sidewalk in front of a store, where they might not want you sitting…
The autistic girl would have run right into traffic, at least according to her mother. A police officer near the corner stopped her before she got into the street.
After she caught up, the mother bought her daughter candy and then came back to chastise the cop standing next to me.
I sat on the ground next to the cop, while he stood boredly leaning against the wall. We had both seen the girl run past, smiling, screaming and waving her arms, in an oddly happy loud but happy way, which didn't seem to warrant concern, until the mother ran past a few yards behind. Past us the mother called to the street for someone to stop her daughter.
I can only presume that it was her calls for help that caused the officer at the corner to stop the screaming girl. I cannot say that I didn't realize something was going on with the girl. But neither I, nor the officer next to me, had heard the woman say to stop the girl until well after they were past us.
It was a surprise when she lead the girl over to us, the girl's eyes locked onto candy in her mothers hand, in much the way a dog eyes food or a pervert ogles a stripper, with a single minded devotion which seems somehow disturbing to me. As if in those moments there is nothing they wouldn't do to get that target of their obsessive gaze. She kept reaching one hand towards the candy, and her mother kept pushing the hand away, as one might brush aside an insect, a familiar gesture with no ill will.
Mother, in her forties or early fifties had long braids wound up into a messy bun on her head, strands and whole braids stark white against her dark hair and complexion. She was dressed like one who knew it didn't matter how she looked. Her daughter, cherubic and young, could have been any age from a large 13 to a baby fat retaining 20, wore clothing that was easy to put on, shoes with Velcro and sweats, all in bright Pepto Bismol pink. As a pair they stood firmly in front of the officer, in front of me.
"Why didn't you stop her, we go to the Autistic clinic and wait for the bus on the corner here..." I cant help but think that she just called the whole clinic autistic, and try not to picture a building wearing a helmet banging its head against a wall. "...She knows we sometimes go to get candy around the corner and she got excited and ran to the store, since the bus is late, she would have gone right into traffic if someone hadn't stopped her, why didn't you catch her..?"
The officer, youthful looking despite 8 years on the force, looks ashamed, and tries to explain that he didn't hear her, and the woman interrupts. "If she got hit by a truck or a bus, you would have had to do something, so why not step out and help before she gets killed... I don't know about you police." The young officer seem even more taken aback. The Command officer having watched this situation from its beginning, is behind the woman, and he barely keeps his smile and laugh in check.
I offer the cop a lifeline by agreeing that we didn't hear her call, and it is true, we both thought the girl was just "energetic" as she went by. The woman is unconvinced by my statement, but he seems glad to have support, as she continues to explain his errors.
After a few more minutes the woman finally lets her daughter have the skittles candies, which she calls "snickles" a combination of the name skittles and the name snickers, which she apparently uses as a general for candy.
They wander off, and after they are gone, there is a moment of awkward silence as the scene commander still smiling at the other officer's involvement in the uncomfortable confrontation. The Officer next to me looks down, and I smile up at him and laugh. He shrugs, and manages to say "You gotta love New york" and we all laugh, and he has his position of confidence back.
The scene commander goes back into the command center, and I chat with the officer about police contracts, precinct locations, pay, and other cop issues. I am enjoying talking to the cop until my date arrives.
As I start to leave he is startled when I reach to shake his hand, and say it was a pleasure talking to him. He shakes and I turn to my date, who looks even more confused then he did.