THE
STORY BEHIND THE POEM “KEENER” CURTIS
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This poem pretty much explains
itself. However in the interest of some clarification, here is the
story. First some background. Curtis Robinson is a veteran
of 10 or more years as a policeman. He is also, very meticulous in
his appearance. I can recall times, playing hockey with Curt, that
after the game he would spend 10 to 15 minutes blow drying and styling
his hair. He doesn’t need to now, as he has a very military looking
buzz cut.
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In most departments, they
have nicknames for rookies and new police personell. They are always
very keen to work and get involved in everything. Hence the nickname
“keeners”. Veteran officers tend to be more laid back and assess
things before charging in blindly.
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Our department is basically
divided into two separate police departments. This is as a result
of the shift scheduling we work. We are on 11 hour shifts and work
4 days on and have 4 days off. So when one half of the department
is working, the other half is off. Each district is broken down into 10
squads numbered, 1-2-3 etc. All of the odd numbered squads 1-3-5-7-9
work the same days (different shifts) and have the same days off.
We dubbed ourselves the Odd Squad. The rest are called the “Evens”.
Curt of course works the even side.
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I work on Squad 9, hence
the odd squad. I was in the locker room one day getting ready for
our last day of the shift. In walks my old buddy Curt. After
the usual greetings, I asked him if he was in working an overtime shift.
Curt looked at me as if I was nuts. “No”, he said, “I’m in to work
Charlie shift, you know, even squad days?” Very gently, I broke the
news to him, that he was into work a day early. He got very embarrassed
and rushed out very quickly, not to be seen again until New Years Eve,
when he was working overtime. I presented him with a signed copy,
and he giggled reading it. He said “I’ve been expecting this since
the day I ran into you. Thanks, I’ll put it with my son’s poem”
They were featured in an earlier poem where they
pulled the fire alarm at the police academy.
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