Cyndi's Two Cents

Protected and served

Commentary.

As I was leaving the state’s fairgrounds the hot and dusty final Sunday afternoon of the event’s 10-day run last year, I noticed a truck with a livestock trailer pulled off to the side of the road near the exit.  As I drove slowly down the road and passed the stopped dually, a state policeman who seemed to come out of nowhere slammed his hand across the hood of my car and began yelling at me.  When I rolled down the window to learn what I had done he told me that any idiot should have known better.  It took me a couple of minutes to figure out what I had done wrong.  The truck and trailer needed a wide berth to pull out and the policeman was clearing the way.

How was I supposed to know that a truck pulled completely off the road was next in line to leave the grounds?  There were no visible signs and no one communicated that to me.

That policeman was probably hot and tired and worn out like most of the rest of us who had worked at the fair that week.  But he was a jerk.  The woman selling lemonade shake-ups and ice cream sandwiches outside the coliseum, the man selling hot tubs and the superintendents of every livestock species exhibited had visibly lost their enthusiasm as the temperatures climbed higher and the days passed, but they managed to smile when I offered the same.

Once I stopped trembling and my heart rate and breathing had gone back to normal, I got mad.  I thought to myself that it is no wonder so many people say policeman are arrogant, rude and sometimes just plain mean.  After driving a few more miles, I thought about all of the law enforcement officers I have known in my lifetime who are humble and kind and lived and breathed to protect and serve.

I remembered when in my early 20’s and just starting in radio I thought a listener had become a little too interested in me.  The sheriff’s department and city police closely patrolled the area where I lived until they believed I was safe and I was no longer afraid.

Are there bad cops out there?  Yes.  There are also farmers who lie about crop damage so they’ll collect insurance money.  There are men and women who starve horses, cattle, hogs and sheep.  There are college students who introduce the younger siblings of their friends to crack cocaine and methamphetamine in an effort to build a client base.

There are bad preachers, teachers, dog breeders and bankers.  There are also a lot of really good ones. Comparing every member of law enforcement to those who are bad actors is like comparing every person who raises hogs to the ones that abuse their animals.

I realize this column is an oversimplification of a complex issue.  It is going to take more communication and understanding and a better sense of community to even begin to mend this torn fragment of American society.

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