FlyGirl - The First Edition

Chapter 11: Stop looking at me

THE CON ED TRUCK had been sitting on our block for the past week.

Consolidated Edison - aka Con Ed - was the utility that provided electricity to the great city of New York. In a city as large and as advanced as New York was, there was absolutely no reason for Con Ed to take more than a couple of days to fix whatever electrical issue our neighborhood needed fixing. For it to take a week was asinine.

After a couple of days, it began to irritate the crap out of me. By the end of the week I was about to have a meltdown. When the following Friday rolled around, and I saw the truck still there, engine off, no employees around it, I knew something had to be done.

I went downstairs, made Alex's breakfast, and plopped down next to him.

I poked him in the arm. "Alex?"

"Yes, Siobhan?" He looked at me around the newspaper he was reading. My old man dinosaur refused to read a newspaper online. Tree killer.

"Why's there a Con Ed truck on our block?"

He gave me a patronizing look, then returned to his paper. Shaking it out, he said, "Ostensibly because someone is having issues with their electric service."

"That takes two weeks to fix?"

He closed and folded the paper; a sign that he knew he'd have to pay full attention to me. "You want the truth. It's surveillance." He patted my knee. "My advice is to ignore them."

"Well, that's crap!" I shouted and banged my fist down on the table. "The 4th amendment of the Constitution affords us the right to be secure in our houses from governmental invasion." I pushed his shoulder. "Do something."

"It won't stop it. They'll swap out the Con Ed truck for something else." He drank down the rest of his coffee. "Look at it this way, baby. At least we know it's there."

"That's so conciliatory!" I fumed. "This is an illegal invasion on the right of privacy in our homes."

Alex smiled, folded the paper, and bopped me on the head with it. "Ignore it, Siobhan. I'm serious."

I crossed my arms and glared at him. "I can't ignore a thwarting of the law by the people tasked with the responsibility of enforcing it."

"Siobhan, I'm going to say it one more time," he rumbled. "If you make an issue out of that truck, they'll make an issue out of you."

That was like waving a red flag in front of a bull. I can't resist a challenge. "I can't just ignore it," I muttered.

"Fine. See for yourself." He kissed me on the side of my head. "If you're not going to listen to me, try to remember that they're not obligated to give you a phone call. If you get taken to a precinct, you're on your own until you can make contact. "

"You have no faith in me," I grumbled.

"No, I don't." He put on his jacket and kissed me again. "We're going to the opera tonight, so try to be out custody by 5pm."

"I don't think you're funny," I pouted.

"Oh, baby." He tapped my nose. "My little sovereign citizen. Have fun with the Feds."

"I'm not a sovereign citizen," I corrected. "I believe in the rule of law and the Constitution of the United States, which is why I'm pissed about this unlawful surveillance!" I flailed my arms towards the outside. "It's unconstitutional! It's un-American! It's..."

The door slammed. He had the nerve to leave in the middle of my rant, for God's sake. Right when I was getting wound up, too. Bastard.

I rolled my eyes, then lumbered over to the living room, crashed on the couch, and used the living room iPad to pull up the parking violation codes table for the city of New York. Scrolling through I found all sorts of funny stuff, like how it's illegal to feed the meter. Come on. Feeding the meter should never be illegal. Damn nanny state.