| Well Mr Citizen, I guess you have
figured me out. I seem to fit Neatly
into the category you place me in. I'm
stereotyped, characterized,
standardized, classified, grouped, and
always typical. I'm the lousy cop.
Unfortunately, the reverse isn't true.
I can never figure you out. You accuse
me of coddling juveniles, until I catch
your kid doing something wrong. You
may take an hour for lunch, and several
coffee breaks each day, but point me out
as a loafer if you see me having just
one cup. You raise hell about the guy
who cuts you off in traffic, but let me
catch you doing something wrong and I'm
picking on you. You know all the
traffic laws, but never get one ticket
you deserved. You shout "foul" if you
observe me driving too fast enroute to
an emergency call, but literally raise
hell if I take more than ten seconds
responding to your call. You wouldn't
think of telling your dentist how to
pull a badly decayed tooth, or doctor
how to take out your appendix, but you
are always willing to give me pointers
on my job. You talk to me in a manner
and use language that would assure a
bloody nose from anyone else, but you
expect me to stand there and take it
without batting an eye. You cry
"something has to be done about all the
crime", but you can't be bothered with
getting involved. You've got no use for
me at all, but of course, it's ok if I
change a tire for your wife, or save
your son's life with mouth-to-mouth
resuscitation, or work many hours of
overtime to find your lost daughter.
So, dear citizen, you stand there on
your soapbox and rant and rave about the
way I do my job, calling me every name
in the book, but never stop to think a
minute that your property, your family
or life depend on one thing....me or one
of my buddies. Author: Trooper Mitchell Brown, Virginia State Police Killed in the line of duty two months after writing this piece. |
