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I'm Thankful for the Cop Slide
- myra dodd
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
To celebrate my accomplishments in radio this semester, I'm going to completely 180 from my usual content and instead write about my favorite video on the internet.
On July 23rd, 2023 at 6:35pm a Boston Police Officer fell down a slide.
It's hard for me to encapsulate my love for this video into words. It evokes endless questions without providing any of the answers. Perhaps this air of intrigue is what keeps me coming back to the Cop Slide. Here I have a compiled list of questions that run through my mind when watching:
Why was it so fast?
What happened in there?
Why is a cop going down a childrens slide in the first place?
Why were they filming? Who is filming?
How did he get face down?
Is the Cop Slide acab?
The video is truly astonishing. The cop is completely airborne and is only reigned back into the slide because his head gets caught on the side. He bounces and skids on the ground before immediately getting to his feet. This kind of resilience should not be taken lightly. The slide rejected him violently and he still had the strength to get back up.
It wasn't until just now when it dawned on me that the cop of the famous Cop Slide remains without a name. I respect his anonymity, but I can't help but wonder about him and how he views the slide. Is it as a rival? Something to defeat? Perhaps he looks at it with shame. A part of his past that he doesn't want brought back up. Maybe even with a sense of admiration and respect for the slide. Not anything can truly jostle a guy around in such a way. Or it could be with a sense of comradery. This is a legacy they created together. We may never know.
To me, the Cop Slide is associated with two years of love and laughter. At least a few times a week I'll remember the video and smile to myself. Occasionally, I will watch it and will laugh the same way I do every time. I don't know if there is something else that consistently joyful. My sister and I have found a way to prolong that joy by making tier lists of various characters and celebrites with how we imagine their trip down the slide would turn out. Ranging from "Cop Tier" to "Got Stuck" with some even falling into the inexplicable category of "Bumbling" for people we thought would somehow have a worse ride then the cop.
The Cop Slide means a lot to more people than just me. The video has gained such cultural significance that is has been labeled on Google Maps as the "Cop Slide." The infamous slide is designed for children 5-12 and has been known to be rougher to adults, often shooting them out much faster. Countless have journeyed to the site of the incident in an attempt to recreate its glory. Along with multiple physicists who have weighed in with theories behind the cops alarming ride. None have truly succeeded, leaving the cops feat all that more impressive and mysterious.
The Cop Slide means a lot to me and therefore it has to mean something to the people that I surround myself with. I asked a couple of the people in my life what the Cop Slide meant to them and got touching answers:
"I think the Cop Slide represents that we can still have joy and whimsy even in the hardest of times. People have studied the video, gone to the slide, and slid down it while still not understanding why the slide became suddenly a death trap for the cop. Sometimes things are just bewildering and weird and you gotta embrace it."
"To me, the Cop Slide offers a well of inspiration that we all can draw from. Not only is it the best video on the internet, it is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. The opportunity to picture any person meeting the same fate as that cop is the gift that keeps on giving."
The Cop Slide has made me laugh, but most recently it has brought me to tears. The video I attached provides a second slightly different angle to the infamous moment. One that I never knew existed. I was listening to "Change" by Big Thief which kept playing as I saw the Cop tumble once again this time at a slightly differing angle. It felt like my whole world was expanding or changing. I was overcome with emotion and felt my eyes begin to well up.
This holiday season I hope that you take some time to watch the Cop Slide video and then I hope you watch it again.
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