On the stand

Shopgirlove once had to give a statement about a crime. To set the scene, young men in her neighborhood had been running around shooting each other all summer. Actually, neighborhood is something of a stretch. Let's narrow that down to her block. Finally, one afternoon, while Shopgirlove was waiting for the satellite guy to come (the appointment had been for the morning), while painting an armoire (a.k.a. "the Beast"), one young man shot another in front of her building. Springing into action, Shopgirlove secured King Dutch in the back of the apartment, grabbed some clean towels, whipped out her cellphone, and called 911.


Shopgirlove: Send an ambulance! Please, a man's been shot!

911 Operator: Where?

Sh.: [Giving address. Right here, in front of my Goddamn house!] Please hurry, he's collapsed in the street! [Now running toward the victim in flip flops--not the best running shoe, mind you.]

911: No, what city?

Sh.: [What is GPS for, surveillance only?] Oh, right. Cantabrigia.

911: I'm transferring you to local 911. Please stay on the line.

Sh.: [Applying pressure to the wound.] Ummm. O.k.? Can you hurry?

Local 911: What is your emergency?

Sh.: [I think I was stoned when they covered this in First Aid?] Man shot...send help...can't hold phone with shoulder much longer.


So Shopgirlove has now seen what an entry wound for a small-caliber weapon looks like--it's small. And has discovered a rather troubling penchant for running toward danger. What great contribution did she have for law enforcement? The girl, three persons to the left in the crowd in front of the church where Larry collapsed, really needed to get her braids done. That's all. Some girl from the neighborhood needs to see her hairdresser. Oh well, stop the presses!

So, recapping the day's events from "the Trial", I actually have some sympathy for Judy Miller's lapses of memory. The only reason I could recollect anything useful, at the time, was from visual aids (like, where was I standing when I heard the gunshots?) and trying to recollect the chatter on NPR to reconstruct the conversation I had heard on the street.

I am not a very good witness. I'm the one that you want if you've been hurt. But, chances are, I couldn't help indict a flea.