Ryan Arrested for Carrying a Pocket Knife

photo courtesy of www.scoutingbooks.com

Ryan's step-father worked in the show in 1992 when the show first opened, so he's been around France before. The other day he showed up to work ahead of time, signed in, and moseyed over to the Post Office in the train station to do some business before his shift started. He was wearing his cowboy hat, an unusual look in France that identified him as a probable member of the cast of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show.

In the train station two police officers approached him with an air of authority. Ryan figured they meant to question him. They ended up searching him and found a pocket knife in, well.. his pocket. They confiscated the knife and said that if the knife had been in his backpack there would be no problem but since it was in his pocket he'd have to come with them. Later Ryan commented that he could have had a 12" Bowie knife in his backpack and not been troubled, but a little pocket knife in his pocket got him arrested. They escorted him to the police station, booked him, fingerprinted him, and released him on foot. By then his shift was well underway so he ran from the police station to work. The police kept his knife. Maybe in their pocket.

At the time I wasn't clear where the sudden vigilance on the part of the police came from. Usually they're pretty cool but when something extraordinary happens they often change their demeanor and can be hyper-vigilant to a point bordering on harassment. It was only today, when I learned about the incident with the Indian (see below) did I come to the conclusion that perhaps Ryan's incident was partly influenced by the incident with the Indian. But I could be wrong.