The pit works in mysterious ways

pilot

In an average looking park in Pawnee Indiana stood two women. Leslie and Olivia Knope. Just two mid-level bureaucrats in an Indiana Parks and Recreation Department. Leslie looking for her opportunity to make it big into government and make a name for herself. Always optimistic and hopeful till the very end. Assuming the best in everyone even if they didn't deserve it.

And Olivia has her job to keep her sister out of trouble and because her mother, a long time fixture in the Pawnee politics game, scares her. They don't call her mother the 'iron cock shredder of Pawnee' for nothing. That doesn't mean Olivia hates the job, she is good at all the politicians' things. Like threatening, blackmailing, hustling. She does get that from their mother, Marlene Griggs Knope. As much as Olivia hates to attribute anything to their morally bankrupt mother, she has to admit, their mother prepared her to survive in the world of government. And Olivia will take the burden so that Leslie, the lovable bimbo, can live out her dream.

They were two sides of a coin, the sisters. One the expectation of what government should be and the other the reality of government. Like good cop bad cop one might say. Only if the good cop will let you get away with murder if you are good looking enough, and the bad cop will rip out your teeth for looking at her sister wrong. And believe it or not they were not the strangest pair in Pawnee.

Leslie in full business attire walked up to one of the local kids playing in the sandbox. Clipboard in hand.

"Hello. Hi. My name is Leslie Knope, and I work for the Parks and Recreation Department. Can I ask you a few questions?" The small girl looked up at Leslie from playing with her dinosaur toys in the sand box and only stared at her with confusion. Not uttering a single word. After awkward prolonged eye contact Leslie continued with her questionnaire. In addition to being hopelessly optimistic, Leslie had little to social skills, especially with kids.

"Would you say that you are, 'Enjoying yourself and having fun', 'having a moderate', 'amount of fun and somewhat enjoying yourself', 'or having no fun and no enjoyment?'." Leslie reads off her questionnaire, the little girl after the first question Leslie had asked had gone back to playing with her toys dead to the world. "I'm gonna have a lot of fun" Leslie answered for the little girl.

"Sure, she having so much fun she can't even answer your questions." Olivia says somewhat sarcastically. Leslie looks at her sister, who is also in full office attire, blouse, pencil skirt and heels. Leaning on some of the playground equipment nearby. Leslie looks at her with a determined look and then goes to mark it down on her paper. Again, Leslie never understood Olivia's sarcasm either. The sound of running caught the sisters' attention and turned to look at a boy running towards them, kicking up wood chips as he ran.

"Ms knope and Ms Olivia, there's a drunk in the slide" he gasps. The boy looks more so at Olivia next to him, then Leslie crouched on the ground. Olivia guessed the children knew who to go to if they wanted something done. The kids wanted parties and candie, so they went to Leslie. The kids needed help with a bullying situation, physical labor, or just a good public shaming they went to Olivia. She assumed it was like when you asked your dad for something and not your mom, cause you know mom wont do it. Leslie being the mom, and Olivia the dad in this hypothetical scenario.

~~~

"Sir, this is a children's slide. You're not allowed to sleep in here." Leslie , maybe too politely, tells the blackout drunk man in the yellow tube slide. Leslie stands at the top of it, with a broom, hitting the man like a rat. Olivia stands and the bottom arms crossed and an irk mark almost appears on her forehead. Olivia briskly walks away from the group of parents and kids at the bottom of the slide next to her, and over to the base of the slide. Thankfully the drunk man was lanky enough for her to see his feet coming out the end of the tube slide. She takes two hands and grabs one of the drunk's ankles and gives it one firm tug. The drunk man, who had lost his leverage to keep him in the slide, is sent flying out the bottom. With a thud and a groan of pain, Olivia wasn't sure if it was from the impact or the now bright sun in his face, the drunk was now out of the slide.