... well, not actually a paying job, so there was no remuneration involved. Just something I don't routinely do, and think there are not many people out there loose on the streets who would be participants in such an unusual occupation. Volunteering with a service organization that has some loose ties to local public safety - CLEA. An acronym for Citizens and Law Enforcement Association.
Some years ago, I heard about a program the police department runs that allows John Doe to go behind the scenes and learn about the various jobs that are part of keeping us safe. Speakers from different areas came and talked about what they do, we went to the range to shoot one Saturday, did an obstacle course involving rappelling down from a tower. Touring the jail, other areas public safety controls.
When the series is over, you can become alumni. Volunteer to help when they put out a call for extra hands in various harmless environments. Meet and Greet events where alumni would hand out flyers, or using extra people to provide help with events public safety sponsors for school age children. Which is what happened on Friday: big bicycle helmet giveaway, plus meet Santa. The CLEA people were recruited to do fingerprints for kids who had parental approval. It is a messy mess. After the kids get inked, prints are pressed one finger at a time on cards and given to mom. Then you clean the black sticky goo off their hands before they touch their clothes, scratch their face or pick their nose.
We might have done prints for two hundred kids. Making me think it was a productive experience. I recall having prints done for my kids when they were very small. They don't change, just get bigger as everything gets fed, watered, grows over the years, so those tiny finger prints still can be used to identify those two no-longer-little people.
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