School Safety Patrol (Part 4 of 4)

The school rules were almost as sacred as the Pledge of Allegiance. We had copies of the school rules printed up for every student, and the safeties carried them where ever they went. One of the rules was, “No tackle football!” One day I saw a large group of kids playing football and it looked like they were tackling!
I rushed onto the field. I yelled, “Okay, break up this game.” I grabbed the ball that was on the ground at that time. Someone yelled, “Hey, Billy, give us back the ball.” Another kids said, “We weren’t tackling.”
I was shaking by this time. These kids were defying me! I proceeded to write out tickets for all the kids. They continued to harass me. I found it hard to write tickets and hold the football at the same time. I shifted it a bit and a kid grabbed it from me. He and some other boys ran off with it. I took off after them. I got the ball back but that only made the kids angrier.
I again tried to write and hold the ball at the same time. The kids took the ball from me once more. Before I could chase after them, a girl came close to me. She gave me a hard shove, and I fell to the ground. That was humiliating!
The kids started playing ball again, even while I was on the field. I got up and walked over to the edge of the grass. I sat down and cried.
I felt like turning in my resignation as a safety. It just wasn’t worth the trouble. I wanted to give up right there. But I didn’t.
I decided keep my safety badge and start to work with people one on one. I did more courageous moves though. One was when I gave the student body president a ticket for running in the hall. He was so mad. But rules are rules. . .

Coming Tomorrow: I Ran A Mile