“Watch the policemen on the street,” said my mother.

She had hustled my sister and me into the car and driven to Reading without explanation, which was strange, as we usually did any shopping in nearby Lebanon, whereas Reading was over a half hour drive away from Richland.  My mother had a habit of being mysterious like that, which I presume is where I picked up my habit.

We were now sitting in a booth next to a window in a restaurant on Fourth Street, and my mother was directing us to watch the policeman who was directing traffic at the intersection. 

He was quite animated.

In fact, he was extremely animated.

He did just about everything he could do with his hands and body except stand on his head as he guided the traffic, heavy during the noon hour.

Apparently he had developed quite a reputation such that the folks at the TV show Candid Camera had recently been there to film him, and he was going to be featured on a forthcoming episode.

His name was Albert Paris and here’s the video.