Two Atlantic City officers arrived at a home for a medical call Thursday. They wound up leaving a positive impression on two young cousins.
Phyllis Terrell's 6-year-old daughter was having digestive issues while visiting her cousin's home. It got so bad that Terrell made a call for emergency medical services.
But just a few minutes after she made the call, what turned out to be a bad case of constipation had corrected itself.
Still, Officers Malik Tolbert and Kleovoulos Zissimopoulos showed up at the family's door.
"I came to cheer her on," Zissimopoulos -- who Terrell knows as "Kleov" -- told her.
The two officers then gave their own advice on what to do next time, causing a brief, good-natured debate of cola vs ginger ale.
When the officers left, Terrell noticed that her son and nephew, ages 4 and 8, had left as well.
She went outside to see them returning with the officers.
The boys had their own "emergency" it seems -- their game wasn't working.
"Did you really come back here to help with the game?" Terrell asked as Zissimopoulos knelt to help the boys.
"He doesn't mind," Tolbert replied.
Zissimopoulos' investigation found the problem: "Maybe the game's not working because the dog peed on it," he said.
Seems the puppy her nephew brought over to show his mother had left a puddle right where the game was.
While the game was a loss, the 25 minutes the officers spent at the home was not wasted.
Terrell has talked with her son and nephew, who both live with her in Pleasantville, about some of the issues young black men have had with police. But she also has told them there are officers who help as well.
This visit proved it.
Terrell was so impressed, she posted about it on Facebook. But first, she made sure her son and nephew received the message.
"Those two officers showed you guys you always have to give a cop a chance," she told them. "There are still good cops out there."
