A large and presumably fresh-on-the-force crew on black & white motor bikes has just streamed down the block past my window. Although I have yet to commit a crime more heinous than possessing glass on Fiesta Island, the sight of them initiates in me a potent sequence of unpleasant physiological events. My heart rate increases, my lightheartedness is suddenly sobered and my demeaner is tinged with a bit of indignation.
I suppose some people may have had an opposite experience upon seeing them, but I wonder how many.
This week I met the second person I now know who has left law enforcement for no other reason than he wasn't enough of an asshole to continue being on the same "team" as his colleagues. Maybe, for instance, he would have felt a bit uncomfortable as he stood in a circle with another officer who thought it important to shout "that's a crime, you know!" at an innocent person (i.e. me) riding his skateboard to work because he has no car or bike (both of which, by the way have no more business being considered legal means of transportation than a skateboard). That's a very mild example of course, but it's the freshest on my mind since it just happened today. On to my point...
To all the good cops out there: know that you are appreciated. You are real troopers.
The Settlers of Zarahelma can build Temples of holy worship faster than you can build your vulgar settlements!