I have my own business and one of the things I am always cautious about is how I am viewed while I am out in the public.
The main thing I realize is that I never know who is watching me, so I should be on my best behavior and careful of where I go. I live in a fairly large city, but it is small enough that there are most times people around who I know or they definitely know who I am.
With this thought in mind it just amazes me how people such as police officers behave.
Just last week I encountered three situations that I thought were interesting.
First. I was driving home from a sporting event at around 10 p.m. on a Friday evening. At first I was unsure of the reason for traffic to be moving so slowly, but as I approached the 'bottleneck' I realized that the local Police Deptartment was performing a random roadside check of drivers and their vehicles. Now, I suppose that the Chief of Police ordered this roadside check to make it obvious to the taxpayers that his department was earning their money and cracking down on impaired driving.
I think that this is an admirable exercise, but I question why it would take four police officers to carry out this task. Especially less than a week after the Chief was in the local media crying the blues about staff shortages.
Do they not realize that taxpayers are watching?
Second. The very next night while going to a movie rental store to .. 'rent a movie' .. of all things. ;-) I was pulled over by a female police officer because I had a headlight out. She was certainly only doing her job, and she gave me a ticket and the opportunity to fix the light and take my car to the Police Station within 48 to have the ticket torn up.
I had no problem with that she did a very professional job. What I did have a problem with was that after struggling with the headlight myself to get it replaced I drove to the Police Station. I parked just outside the door, went to the desk and told the officer that I had been given a ticket but I had replaced the light.
He took the ticket, stamped it and handed it back to me saying, "There your ticket is cancelled."
What? You aren't even going to come outside to look at it, after I went to all that trouble?
Wow! That didn't make a positive change on my opinion of the Police Department. The least he could have done was appeared to do his job, or appear to care about his job.
Do they not realize that taxpayers are watching?
Third. I followed a female police officer in a cruiser. She changed lanes several times without signaling. (I know ... Who does that? Well, I would expect the police to do it.) I think she was distracted by the laptop on the seat beside her. And, during the last part of my trip behind her she pulled away at a speed well above the speed limit.
Do they not realize that taxpayers are watching?
It never fails to amaze me. We pay their salaries and they don't seem to understand that we are watching what they do as much as they are watching us.
Remember! Someone is always watching. No Matter who you are!
