Antonio D'Andrea--The Watchmaker

What ever happened to “Stop in the name of the law” or “Stop or I’ll shoot”?

Growing up in the 1940’s and ‘50’s, that was the standard police warning . At least it was in the movies.

Today, the police follow, a car thief, for example, for hours until the suspect gets tired, or has to go to the bathroom and finally gives up.

Back in the day, they would have shot his tires out.

I would like to relate an incident that happened to me when I was 10 years old.

I lived in an apartment with my parents and four siblings in Brooklyn, New York.

We lived on a street that had all two story attached houses above stores at street level. It was a very active area with a variety of stores on our block.

There was a grocer, a butcher shop, a drug store, a candy store and a jewelry store.

The jewelry store had a big clock over his doorway, and the watchmaker always sat in the window, so that passers by, could watch him working on repairs, or his creations.

He was an elderly man, with a rim of grey hair, circling his bald head, and wore a jeweler’s eyepiece over his thick lens glasses.

I have to confess, I was a brat.

Everyday, when I came home from school, my best friend, Joey and I, would stand outside the jewelers window, make faces and taunt him.

We would sometimes jump up and down on the metal cellar doors that were right outside his window and make a racket, so that he would finally get up, come outside and chase us.

To me and my friends, this was a game. He would normally chase us about a block and the give up. We thought this was funny. You see, I told you I was a brat.

That all changed one day in the early fall. Across the street from the jewelry store was a movie theater. On this particular day, as Joey and I were busy jumping up and down on the jewelers cellar doors, a robbery was taking place at the cashiers booth of the theatre. As usual the old man came out to chase us.

Joey went one way I another. The old man decided to chase me and was on my tail. As I turned the corner, the robber was coming up the street, heading in my direction. At first, I thought the old man had set up a trap to catch me. Then I saw the policeman, chasing the robber yelling “Stop or I’ll shoot.”

The thief was right in front of me.

When I heard what sounded like an explosion and the man fell right in front of me.

Stunned I froze. I couldn’t move. As the policeman came forward to tend to the man.

He had shot, a crowd gathered. The watchmaker finally caught me. I could not move. I felt paralyzed. The old watchmaker bent down picked me up, enfolded me in his arms and carried me away from the crowd. Somehow he knew where I lived.

He took me to my door. My mother was already flying down the stairs, when she saw the watchmaker carrying me as she was looking out the window.

“Your son jumps on my cellar door and disturbs me. He needs a good paddle” he said, as he handed me back to my mother.

I never jumped on his cellar doors or disturbed him again. If I saw any other kids do it I would chase them away. Occasionally, when I would pass his window, he would look up, smile and nod to me. I would smile and nod back.