Resslin' Around

For most Alaskans, when you see the familiar blue, yellow and white Alaska State Trooper vehicles, there is that panic -- a glance down at the speedometer and anxiety are the normal responses.

But when you really need the assistance of the troopers -- rather than a speeding ticket -- you realize how good of a job the men and women in uniform do.

Last weekend, a family member rolled his truck on the Parks Highway, just north of Talkeetna. While it's a miracle nobody was seriously hurt, the accident left his truck totaled, a camper obliterated and an enclosed snowmachine trailer on its top with a bent frame. The scene was chaos, with flatbed trucks pulling the wreckage through the ditches.

Immediately, the Alaska State Troopers arrived and took control of the situation. They already had a tough weekend -- the accident happened a mile or two north of the Talkeetna Bluegrass Festival, and there was a fatal accident 50 miles north at the exact same time -- but they were friendly and cordial while trying to keep traffic flowing and make sure everybody was fine. They diffused the hazardous scene quickly and professionally. The way they handled the scene reassured everyone involved and kept a rough afternoon from being even worse.

A lot of times, troopers and the police department get bad raps, because the only time a good majority of people have to deal with them is to sign a traffic ticket they just received. In the overall scheme of things, that is the small part of what they do, but it happens to be one of the most visible.

Other times, people want to complain about the troopers, like at the bluegrass festival. Some festival-goers were upset about the troopers' presence there, and the fact there was a trooper helicopter in the area. Boo hoo, I say. Live with it. Harassment? Hardly. They were just doing their jobs.

Every situation in which a trooper is involved is often confrontational or an emergency. Imagine in your day-to-day job if every single thing you did was an emergency in which people's lives are in jeopardy, or if every task you performed resulted in a confrontation with someone you had never met before. It's a rough job that not many people are cut out for, nor enjoy.

The next time you get pulled over, take it easy on the men and women in blue. They're just doing their jobs.

While you probably aren't happy about getting a speeding ticket or a moving violation, you never know when you'll need that exact same person to help you out of a tough situation in the future. You don't know when those situations will arise, but when they do, you'll truly appreciate the job they perform.

Casey Ressler (valleylife@frontiersman.com) is the Valley Life editor. His lead foot led to a trooper encounter earlier this spring.