Blog 790 – 09.30.2017
I Saw The Sign

I am always looking for signs. I saw another one in a yard today. It had a blue badge with the words: WE BACK THE BADGE. My daugher Em told me once that typing in all caps is “shouting.” Why are we always shouting at one another?

I am a “wordy guy” and have a bit of difficulty even saying Happy Birthday in less than twenty five words. Did you every notice how quickly people quit listening when you say more than a sentence or two or express an opinion contrary to theirs? It is okay to shout Happy Birthday, by the way, but if I had a front yard or a sign I might prefer it to say calmly in lower case quieter words something like:

“i support brothers (sisters too), badges or none, civil or un, police, citizens, everyone. I see only ‘brothers.’ all brothers have a duty, not just the police, to serve and protect each and every one.”

That would have to be a pretty big sign. And I wonder how many would take the time to read it. Our attention spans seem to be getting shorter and shorter and ball cap, bumper sticker, political slogans have not helped with that. The more polite among us kneel at sporting events to express our protests, some of us shout our slogans at one another on signs in our yards. The not so polite have taken to the streets to air our complaints protected by The First Amendment. Some of the more violent, desperate, destroy property and endanger lives in protest and the police have to put themselves in harms way to keep the peace. That is an interesting phrase “keep the peace.” Policemen always walk a fine blue line, sometimes resorting to violence themselves either appropriately or inappropriately, attempting to do their job of serving and protecting. Do they always get it right? Hardly. Is it a tough and dangerous job? Definitely? Is power ever a justification for unnecessary force? Never should be the answer but isn’t always. Some say it is easy to get calloused when you deal with law breakers and hard cases on a daily basis but does that excuse violating people’s rights? No, no matter their color or the color you are wearing. Justice wears a blindfold to discourage prejudice and profiling. Too often our criminal justice system has failed large segments of the population. Subtle discrimination is actually in some cases nastier than the open variety and more damning. A million little cuts can bleed the life out of a person, a group of people, or a nation faster than a few big ones.

“i support brothers (sisters too), badges or none, civil or un, police and citizens, everyone. i see only ‘brothers.’ all brothers have a duty, not just the police, to serve and protect each and every one.”

I saw the sign. Some things we ought to read and say over and over till we commit them to memory. It is a sad sign of the times that we commit so little to memory and are forgetting how to treat all men as our brothers and that so many of us believe our only family is those who look and think like us.

Your friend, brother, and fellow traveler,
David White