My field trip with Manteno’s senior citizens

During the last couple weeks I’ve been covering an event in Manteno called the “Senior Police Academy” for work. It was a six-week class that happened every Monday for senior citizens in Manteno to teach them about what the police department does and how it can benefit them. It covered topics such as identity theft, elder abuse and resources available to senior citizens to make their lives easier.

Anyway, I was invited to tag along on the last day of class and join them for a field trip, “graduation ceremony” and a free lunch. Since I am often not very busy at work and am always looking for things to do to get me out of the office, I readily accepted the invitation (it was a free lunch! Who can pass that up?).

Each meeting begins with a hang-out time complete with donuts, coffee, water and this week Propel! During the two Mondays that I’ve joined the group, I helped myself to a donut (only after being encouraged to take one, of course) and enjoyed the free breakfast before the class started. This last Monday, I noticed the donut container was still very full when I took my donut at the end of the hang-out time. Were the donuts really for the senior citizens or really just for the policemen??

Well, I hopped on the bus with 26 loud and crazy senior citizens, one police officer who ran the classes and a guy from the sheriff’s department. When I say loud and crazy, I really do mean loud and crazy. I had no idea these people could be so funny and full of energy! I don’t want to sound ignorant or like the 20s-something that I am, but I’ve never been with a large group of “living on their own, still very active and healthy” senior citizens. And they’re hilarious when they all get together!
There was the class clown who was always cracking jokes with the people around him. The ones that bantered back and forth with the officer. They were all cracking jokes about being old and teasing each other about who was going to get locked up when we visited the jail later.


The sheriff's office

I was more going along for the ride to take some pictures, but I think I enjoyed the field trip about as much as all of them! We visited the 9-1-1 dispatch center (Really interesting! I never really thought about where the calls go and who responds to them), the county jail and the Sheriff’s office. The jail was probably the most interesting part because we got to see where the inmates stay in the minimum and maximum security units, but I kind of felt like I was at a zoo gawking at “animals” in cages.
Highlight of the day: One of the ladies was mooned by an inmate while touring the jail!


The 9-1-1 center

Second highlight of the day: Free amazing buffett lunch at a restaurant in Manteno!
Third highlight of the day: I didn’t get back to the office until 2 p.m.! Amazing!!
Fourth highlight of the day: I was fired! Sort of :) Along with the entire rest of the office except Tracy and Reenie, courtesy of my boss’s four-year-old son Carter. I was actually fired the Friday before for leaving work early and then double fired that Monday for coming in late. Thankfully, I was rehired when Carter realized that firing me meant he wouldn’t ever see me again (Phew!).