Seeking a Winter State of Mind Amid the Heat

Welcome to our Winter Wonderland issue. Anything to counter this hot weather. Anyway, we’ve extracted several snapshots with cool scenes, including a defective thermometer, an oddly placed automatic teller machine and some icy fast food (see photos).

Hope they give you some relief.

Not everyone’s uncomfortable in the heat: The crime log of the Seal Beach Sun reported a sighting of “a suspicious man in a vehicle.” It turned out to be none other than “a sleeping security guard.”

Stinkin’ badges: The controversy over honorary law enforcement badges being given to prominent civilians calls to mind a story that L.A. Police Chief William H. Parker told half a century ago at the retirement party of Times police reporter Pat Shepard.

One day Shepard arrived at the scene of a large fire and when he attempted to enter the sealed-off area, an officer asked for ID. Shepard told him he had forgotten his press credentials in the rush.

“If you don’t have something to show me with ‘Press’ on it, I can’t let you in,” the officer said.

Retreating to a gas station, a desperate Shepard called his office and asked for a copy boy to bring him the credentials. Then he had an idea.

He returned to the fire area and said to the same officer, “You said you’d let me enter the fire area if I showed you something with ‘Press’ on it?” And Shepard handed him the flush lever from the gas station’s bathroom toilet.

The officer, impressed with his persistence, allowed him in.

Newsman Jerry Clark, who heard Parker tell the story, said: “I watched Pat nod in acknowledgment as the chief delivered the punch line.”

miscelLAny: My 22-year-old niece Lizzy, who’s winging into L.A. from the East for the holiday, told her mother she wished she had gotten a flight reservation for another day.

“When are you flying in?” her mother asked.

“July Fourth,” she responded.

“Why did you make it for that day?” her mother asked.

“I didn’t realize it was the Fourth of July,” she said.

Well, inasmuch as it’s difficult to remember when the birthdays of Washington and Lincoln are celebrated, I guess I can understand uncertainty over when the Fourth of July would be celebrated.

Steve Harvey can be reached at (800) LATIMES, Ext. 77083, by fax at (213) 237-4712, by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, 202 W. 1st St., L.A. 90012, and by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes.com.