SALUTE to the VIPS! Volunteers In Police Service - Marana
Yesterday I put over 100 miles on my car, driving a circle route from Marana, down I-10 to South Tucson, out
Aho Way past Ryan Airport Field, and Up Sandario road in West Tucson back up to Continental Ranch in Marana.
Some of those miles are rustic, indeed, and cars passed were few and far between. In the last 2 miles of my circular route, just coming down through Continental Reserve, I heard that roaring, flopping sound associated with...a flat tire. I was coming up to an intersection, and so I pulled over to take a look. Front driver tire, going flat FAST. On a side note, my car external temperature gauge was registering 113 degrees.
Simultaneously, a police officer pulled up to see why there was traffic behind me. He "assisted" me across the intersection and directed me towards a shady spot. At that point, we thanked the officer as he drove away, and my daughter and her friend, vacated the car to see if we could get the spare tire and tools out to begin the task.
Suddenly, a voice behind us interrupted our dubious progress and two uniformed volunteers from the Marana Volunteer Police Department offered to help. You can imagine our relief, as I couldn't even see how to get the jack unscrewed from it's place along the wheel well, and I was picturing in my mind how I was going to loosen auto-tightened lug nuts!
Long story short, and 30 sweaty minutes later, volunteer Emilio Perez and his partner had done the dirty deed. His partner, whose name I unfortunately didn't get, zipped over to his nearby home to get a 2 Ton Jack, much better than the mini-version I had in my Toyota. The lug nuts were so HOT Emilio handled them like hot muffins from the oven. Fortunately I had a large beach towel in the car because the tire couldn't be picked up, it was so hot.
The officers were polite, conversational, non-complaining, and good looking too! (Can't beat that) I was surprised, being used to seeing senior citizens do so much volunteering, that my young helper looked about 23. He said the VIPS always need "young blood"!
So, next time you're driving around Continental Ranch and Marana area, and you see your uniformed volunteers, realize they are looking out for you, and give 'em a wave. They were at the end of their shift, yet they stopped to help three females on a roaring hot summer afternoon.
Salute to the VIPS! The Volunteers in Police Service, Marana saved me BIG TIME.
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