Sidewalk Slumber

His thick black hair was neatly trimmed and he was dressed in casual clothes and sandals. I took a knee next to him, he was laying down with a peaceful expression on his face and even a bit of a subtle grin. The guy just wanted to sleep, the problem was he was covered in his own urine and had turned the public sidewalk into his private makeshift bed. He had roused a large crowd at this point, all standing in a circle around him staring and pointing. After checking his blood sugar, vital signs, medical history and his cognitive abilities, I was pretty sure my newly acquainted friend had simply had "a few to many". We decided to play detective and check his wallet, it was here we confirmed our suspicion after pulling out receipt for alcohol purchased just hours ago. He smelled of beer and was able to speak with us, but would not leave his comfy sidewalk, firmly standing his ground. "You can't sleep on the sidewalk" I said to him. He just rolled his chocolate brown eyes at me and smiled, refusing to budge. I admired his determination, and his impressive sleeping abilities on such an uncomfortable surface, but I couldn't just leave him there on the street. I gave my new friend a choice as we radioed for the police. He could simply get up, leave with a nearby friend in a taxi, and sleep in his bed at home, or he could go to jail. He decided on the latter unfortunately. The police finally showed up, the first officer was about to explode out of his uniform he was so big, he looked like a professional body builder. The cop's leg was probably bigger than the entire man, he just walked over and looked down over him. It was at this point that new my friend finally woke up, miraculously standing up with out assistance, the bystanders must have thought it was a miracle! He attempted to apologize, but it was to late. It was at this point his pants fell down in front of the crowd which included women and children. I helped pull them up and the cop escorted him to the back of his patrol car, at which time he began laughing, it was at this point the cop and I also started laughing. The whole situation may have annoyed some medics, but after all the terrible things you see on the job, its nice to just smile sometimes.