Author: charlesmerle

(This story is dedicated to my “other” mother, Marge Lewis… she loved hearing it and asked me to tell it to her many times.) I am so old, that I worked before the invention of cell phones. I never considered it a problem. I would find a pay phone, drown it with Lysol,  and radio … Continue reading my mom never calls me →

If you do this job long enough, there comes a time when you are asked (read told) to train new people. There is no getting out of it no matter how hard you try. Almost everybody gets stuck doing it. Normally, a new officer rides with you for a few weeks, attached to your hip … Continue reading boot check →

  Long ago, when I was a working cop, one of my main extra-duty summer jobs was backstage security at a large, well-known outdoor amphitheater. During the summer months, I worked there several evenings per week. As a result, I was fortunate to meet many headliner acts and performers. (Maybe one day I will tell … Continue reading My encounter with Stevie Nicks →

Sir. Mr. King. I am quite sorry. Please accept my apology. My sister is a nice person, not at all the stalker type. She is however, an older sister, and as such, prone to occasions of gleeful torment of her younger brothers, in this case me. But for that character flaw, she is a good … Continue reading My Apology to Stephen King (yes THAT Stephen King) →

  by Chuck Choate & Marian Denton I freely admit, here and now, as I have admitted to my friends and family, that living here for the winter in this high rise, highfalutin, rootin-tootin, beachfront condo, is well above my social status, and beyond my pay grade. Nevertheless, it is the path I have chosen … Continue reading Mr wiggles and his driver →

If you ever want to know whether a police officer or a firefighter is dedicated to the job, or, if they are just in it until something better comes along, there is a very simple test. Just ask them this one question: “What are you most afraid of?” If they are in this career for the … Continue reading One question →

I am not sure how a dictionary defines HERO. I suppose I could look it up. However, as a result of my chosen profession, I have a personal working definition of HERO.  There are two elements to my understanding of the word. First, to me, a hero is a person who runs TOWARDS trouble, when … Continue reading HEROS →

(a chapter from a larger story..."The Princess and the Ogre"... a working title) It was one of the ways he would joke with her… sometimes, when they were alone, referring to her in the formal speak, "Her", or “She".  Often, she feigned dislike for this, but he knew better. Sometimes he would say, “Today I … Continue reading On Their Last Day: →