A young man is standing in the corner of the cafeteria in a NY Psychiatric Center. A stacked pile of acrylic [I guess?] chairs with metal frames is by his side. He is in a rage and throwing them violently at staff. He was a big boy. This was in the admissions ward. So, as usual, the call goes out to the secure unit for the cavalry. Myself and a fella named Frank scampered off as quickly as we could to assist … we of the special “combat” training. Quickly assessing the situation, and without a word, Frank & I each grabbed one of the flung chairs laying out on the floor. Using them as shields, he ran down the left wall and I the right … straight at him in the corner. Another staffer stood in the middle of the floor holding a small table as a shield and acted as a distraction. Boom! POW! Frank & I and our chairs, simultaneously, ran full force into the hapless psychotic before he knew what had hit him. Blood spattered, as one chair hit him pretty high up on his chin. He went down and we immediately had him subdued before anyone else got hurt. Oh. those were the days! I came to find, over time, that my years working there were actually my training period for my Postal career! 😉
The long, strange trip it has been … random thoughts, political statements & life misadventures!
Richard's Meanderings 