My morning bicycle ride through a wooded park on the way to the Trinity River was virtually uneventful, except for the very, very large woman feeding her very tiny baby at the park bench — the absolute closest bench to the trail, as conspicuous as possible. So genteel and subtle:)

What’s the old baseball joke about that? … “Two out, one man on” or something like that .. I digress …

On I sped, peddling away.

On the return trip up hill away from the river, I saw an ambulance and two patrol cars parked very near where the La Leche League outing had once been.

Could there be a connection?  I don’t think so.  But, being the curious sort I parked the bicycle to watch.  Two police officers and some first responders were preparing to move a person from the backseat of a patrol car to a stretcher and then to an ambulance.

It was apparent that this wasn’t an ordinary call, when I saw the person’s hands cuffed behind … and then when the officers placed the person on the stretcher it was even more apparent — the person started flailing and trying to kick the officers.

I thought this could be bad.  And I for one — and many people I know — am/are fed up with the way peace officers are treated in the media after something like this gets out of hand .. a bad situation fueled by some fool not complying with the law.

Like just-one-more-clone-in-this-age-of-citizen-journalism, I quickly pulled out my iPhone and started shooting video … However, my biggest concern was for the officers doing their job.  Isn’t that a refreshing approach in these lost days, in an upside-down world?  A few seconds into the video one of the police officers waved and smiled at me.  I gave him a thumbs up and responded “Go Blue!”  He smiled again.

I shot a few more seconds when two women over by the ambulance saw me and slowly moved between me and the gurney … ha … they were trying to block my view … I know because they grabbed the bottom of their sweaters and spread them like Batman do.  (I won’t comment on their girth and whether or not they were already doing a sufficient job to block this live news event … I digress.)

Right about that point, the handcuffed person starting screaming. That was the first time it was apparent that officers were apprehending a woman  …

Then one of the video-blocker women turns, walks about 50 feet over to where I am standing.

“What’s your problem?,” she demanded, getting up in my grill a li’l’.

“Well, I have a couple of spinal injuries from football. Bad teeth … really bad teeth.  I am near-sighted as hell. One of my feet kicks out to the side all crazy when I walk … so … unless you mean that, I guess I don’t have a problem.”

“What’s your problem?  What do you think you’re doing?”

“Well  … I am a journalist and something of interest is happening here in the park, so I am shooting video.”

“Why?” she snapped.

“Two reasons.” I said.  “First, I’m a journalist, and it’s what we do.  Second, every day in America we see police accused of wrongdoing and I think I will just document that they are doing all the right things, in case something goes wrong.”

Ha … she told me that she was an activist too (what!?!), but that the police weren’t hurting the screaming person who was now tied down to the ambulance cart.

“Ma’am please re-read the paragraphs above in the blog.  I am hoping to document and protect the police officers, if needed.”  She never understood that part … and lots of people won’t.  (Ha … well … I told her that for reals, without the mention of the blog part …)

“What if it were one of your family?” she asked.

“Well … I guess I wouldn’t like it one bit if one of my family was resisting arrest … or if they were getting videoed by a journalist as they resisted arrest, as journalists tend to do.”

The woman walked off, joined her friend by the stretcher and soon they turned and were both videoing me … and I could hear parts of the nasty narration they were laying down on this, their latest viral-video project.

I smiled — which I commend them for … I don’t smile much … bad teeth and all that.  I waved at their camera phones and “put my hand in the air, made a peace sign and threw back my hair” … old song … Resurrection Shuffle … Google it … I digress.

Well … this thing … this situation didn’t escalate further.  The detainee yelled “Oh, oh, my knee hurts” once, probably hoping to lay groundwork for a defense and/or potential lucrative lawsuit … and that was about as interesting as it got.

Backing up just a bit in the story … back before the name-calling women started shooting me with their smart phones, their reactions and concerns suggested perhaps that the detainee had some issue that deserved special treatment … ha … maybe a “Get Out Of Jail Free Card, if you will … maybe … like tripping out of her mind? Or possibly needing a fix? … Or sadly, it could have been a mental disorder (which is not to be taken lightly) or whatever.  I will never know.  Ha … dirty laundry …

As one of the women pleaded with me, I said I would make a deal.  “I will stop shooting video if you give me a good reason why I should.  What’s the story?  Why is this happening?” Ha … the woman replied, “I am not authorized to give that information.” (Dang … she went all One Adam Twelve/Star Trek … and official all of the sudden.)

“Well, then I am not authorized to stop.” Sorry.  I was “pulling her chain” a little by this point since she had been in my face.  If it were me … I would have been over there tending to or trying to calm my friend or relative or whoever it was.

Summary:  Did I feel sorry for the detainee and the two friends? By all means!  Was I doing any thing wrong, shooting a video of a potentially serious situation in a public park with lots of people … including children nearby?  No way.

Is there a lesson to be learned?  Yes … don’t assume some person is a jerk and walk up to them and say that, if you have no idea of their intentions.  You might just be dealing with a jerk — one who will put your video on YouTube and Instagram and SnapChat … Or your actions may influence a nice guy to put the video up, although not the original intent.  Probably never a good idea to mess with the person who is going to get the last world — a member of media or even a social media johnny-come-lately.

Next … IF I am such a jerk, why isn’t my video of the situation circulating on social media right now?  Why isn’t the video in this blog, ensuring more hits?

Lastly .. if any PingReaders see me in a video circulating out there … Let me know.  I want a copy of the media hit.

Ping out.

Know what I sayin?