Since he was the first of many cowards I really noticed, I kind of think of him as Coward Prime.
He is a petty tyrant over his tiny kingdom. He enforces arbitrary and ridiculous rules. It is what government consists of.
He is the Ruler of the splash pad. I prefer to not go there, but my daughter has other ideas. Since last year's encounter, where he made it pretty clear I am not welcome, I stay outside his fence- daughter's mom goes in with her, I sit in the shade and read.
He kept hollering through the chain link to me, asking if I wouldn't be more comfortable "in" the splash pad fence. I just shake my head and think "what, does he want me to come inside so he can get scared of what I might be carrying?"
He has artificial arms ending in hooks/claws, so I realize a gun would do him no good- at least unless it were being wielded by someone like me, in his defense. So, I partially understand his wariness about guns, and those who might have and could use them. But to believe that being afraid of people who are obviously not intending harm somehow makes him and the kids "safer"... just sad.
Anyway...
Usually his Big Issue is "Don't run!" If you build a place for kids, and you are too stupid to realize that kids are going to run, so you'd better design the place with that reality in mind, then don't be surprised when they run. It's how kids move, naturally. I know he didn't design or build the place, and he is only a tiny cog- but he is the one who enforces the dumb rules. And he seems to relish his "authority".
But the other day he kept yelling for some kid to "Stand up! Stand up! Stand up!" Finally the kid's mom said "He can't stand up."
So Coward Prime, in a much quieter voice, mumbled something about how the kid needed to get out from under the [thing that dumps a large bucket of water]. I was thinking "nice, he should understand a person with a disability..."
Actually, it may have shamed him a little, because he was pretty scarce after that.
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Yesterday was a really stressful day, for a lot of reasons. I got the "opportunity" to feel awkward and out of place for a few hours. And had to make a decision I didn't want to make and don't really like. And, as usual, to top it all off... well, you know...
Rattle, rattle...
