My children’s first interaction with the police was witnessing two officers get verbally upset at my refusal to provide them with my name while standing on my own property. Overall, it was a tough day for the kids.
The story begins innocuously enough. We rented a bounce house to have some fun, but the winds were too strong that day and the bounce house started floating away until it was ultimately stopped by our fence. When I called to get a refund, the company who rented it to us was not only unwilling to help out, but arrived upset that the bounce house had been ripped on my fence. Wanting to make a record of it, they called the local police.
Upon the arrival of the first county Sheriff, he kindly asked me what had happened. I told him that it blew away and that it was ridiculous that the police would even respond to such a situation. He agreed, but said that the bounce house company was alleging that I ripped it because I couldn’t get a refund. At that point, I told the officer this is a civil matter and I don’t want you or anyone else on my property. The officer complied and then asked for my name, my response was “no thanks.”