I have to say, I have a list of things that immediately come to mind upon seeing a police officer stopped along side the road.
- Why is he harassing those poor innocent drivers like that?
- Doesn’t he have anything better to do… like CATCH BAD GUYS.
- We need MORE police in this state? Why, to catch more speeders late for work? Really?
- Does it really take FOUR police cars to stop that guy in a Ford Focus who forgot to signal his turn? Come on.
- Do they really need to issue a ticket for 4 miles over the speed limit?
- Do they have to stop right in the middle of the driving lane?
- etc, etc, etc.
Until today I have never had what I’ve considered to be a pleasant encounter with a police officer. Officers are usually thought of (by me) as scary, self absorbed, bossy, arrogant, power tripping, ‘wanting any excuse to shoot you’, people in blue who simply want me to pay their salary by fining me for something stupid and irrelevant.
HOWEVER, I need to give credit where it is due. This morning on my way to work I looked over in the oncoming lanes to see a policeman stopped, lights on, helping a woman bolt her spare tire onto her car. The lady was just standing there and the policeman was working the tire iron. She had obviously got a flat and couldn’t change it herself.
I was amazed. Here, right in front of me, was the very definition of “To protect and server” being acted out for the world to see. Not a PR promotion or marketing campaign on the evening news. An actual live, act of kindness and service by a paid public servant.
For a few minutes I was actually proud of our police force. I was shocked as my cynicism over the general abuse of power we live under on a daily basis was lifted and for a brief moment in time I felt that the Tigard Police were actually on my side. That is until I realized that in my 37 years of life to this point, this is the one and only time I can remember ever seeing this type of service from our “public servants”.
Cynicism aside. Whoever that officer was, Oregon state police, Tigard police, I don’t know, my hat is off to you. I’m proud of what you did and I wish this type of service was considered the norm.
To be fair, maybe officers do this type of thing all the time and I just don’t see it. I hope that is the case.
Do you have any stories about POSITIVE dealings with the police, where they actually impressed you with their service level? If so, I would love to hear them. Comment below and tell your story.
This country in general, and Oregon in specific has a sever lack of perspective with regard to the laws we let our representatives discuss and pass. We’re passing bills left and right and the public mindset for some reason seems to be “the more laws, the better”. I feel like I’m the only one in Oregon that thinks congress should just stop passing laws. Period. Stick to solving our current budget crisis.
sending...