A Sad Truth

The other day I was meeting up with my in-laws at a mall parking lot to drop my children off.  When we arrived there was a helicopter flying someone out, ambulances, fire trucks and police cars were everywhere.  Nothing unusual for an emergency where they are flying someone out.

After the helicopter leaves I decide to take a nap in the car while waiting for my in-laws to arrive.  Great music was playing in the background, it was relaxing and I had a long day of work ahead of me.  My kids were occupied, the AC was blasting, it was perfect.

Ten minutes pass by in a nice slumber when I'm startled awake by a tapping at my chamber door (window, just the car window).  I see an unmarked police van parked in front of me and an officer at my window.

Officer, "How are you doing?"
Me (a little confused), "Good, just taking a nap before work."
Officer, "Where do you work?"
Me, "I'm a nurse in the ER down the road."
Officer (laughing), "So you understand why I woke you up."

At first I had no clue why he was waking me up.  It dawns on me quickly the way it looked.  I'm in a large parking lot, not many people around, it's cool and I'm in a shady spot.  The officer thought I overdosed.  He was checking to observe the situation to see if he needed any backup.

We have a good laugh, I thank him for checking up on me even though it wasn't necessary.

I thought about it later and realized that's sad.  We live in a time where people are overdosing daily.  In the ER where I work it's unusual for us to go a day without treating an overdose.  And it's happening in cars as well, just do a quick google search of overdose in a vehicle.

I'm glad the officer checked up on me, if something had happened my children would have been cared for quickly.