And Your Name Is?

And Your Name Is?

After my parents divorced, my father had a string of colorful and interesting girlfriends. One girl friend had a little house in North Dallas, and the property included an empty lot next door. She decided to take a week or so business trip, and asked my father to keep an eye on the house and lot. She gave him a piece of paper that gave him authorization to act on her behalf in case something happened to the house or lot.

Sure enough, while she was gone, some young troublemakers were in the empty lot, causing trouble, and one of the neighbors called my father, telling him about it. I was visiting with him that day so we rushed over to the lot, but the troublemakers were gone. He called the Dallas police and after a few hours they sent a patrolman, since it was low priority.

So my father, the police officer and I were all standing near the hood of the patrol car, while the officer filled out the incident sheet. My father had his hands on his waist, half bent over watching the officer write. The questions came one after another. Whose property was it, what happened, when did it happened, etc. My father’s answers were precise and measured, at a good pace.

The million dollar question came. What is your name?

Beat, beat, beat, beat, beat. (Pauses)

He did not flinch, his facial expressions never changed, his body language never betrayed him.
He was thinking hard…
He finally said his name, slowly and carefully.

The officer made a few more notes, packed up and left.

So here is my father and I still standing next to the lot, just taking in the moment, surveying the area one more time, in case we spot the intruders.

I say to him, Dad, did you notice it took you like 5 seconds to answer the question, what is your name?

His response was, no, I did not notice it.

I asked him why it would take so long to answer such an easy question.

He said he had to remember who he was today.

At this point he had been retired for 8 years and still the training was burned into his head.

Think about what your name was today and what your cover is. What is my cover employer and job?

I just stood there and marveled at him.

Spook for life.
 

http://themannobodyknew.com/cast/barbara-colby

Barbara Colby’s video prompted me to write my story. I can so relate to what she is saying.

This entry was posted on October 10, 2011 at 1:55 pm and is filed under Texas. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.