Honestly Officer...
Several things on my mind today but one in particular at the moment - bear with me.
I never had any traffic violations until after I was 30. No wrecks, no tickets, nothing. I think I'd had one fender bender in college but it wasn't my fault, and because I was driving a SAAB there was no damage to my car. (Steel girder for a bumper and all.) After I turned 30 it seemed like I was making up for lost time - those Eugene, OR police are ON IT! I got tickets for all SORTS of things... some of which were truly ridiculous. My license was even suspended for 30 days at one point (I could only drive to work and back) because I'd had too many tickets in a 6 month period! I'm not bragging or proud, in fact it seemed like I was being targeted and that kind of freaked me out. You should see how police officers approach a car that's been pulled over a lot. They walk differently; cautiously and hyper-alert. It was scary at times. There *were* one or two things during that decade that I absolutely had been guilty of, but 95% of the ticketed infractions were, in my opinion, unfounded or completely unknown on my part to have even happened. (How can I be following someone too closely when I'm the only person on the road for at least a mile?) During this time, however, I was never, NOT ONCE, disrespectful to any of the officers who pulled me over. I was emotional a few times, sure, I mean I was bummed and stressed over what was happening, but it was important for me to act and speak in a way that showed each officer that even if I disagreed with them I understood they were doing their job.
Now that's not to say my only run-ins with the law have been negative. I mean, we're talking about ME, here, the neighbor in your apartment complex who knocks kindly, but confidently, on your door at 1:00 A.M when your music is too loud, and gives you two more chances to quiet down before calling the cops. ME: the driver who calls 911 when Mr. Speedway zooms past her at the speed of light and almost forces another driver off the road. ME: the lady who, "just in case," flags down an officer when a man is talking a little too loudly and forcefully to the woman he's with. I can't begin to count the number of times I've had positive interactions with the Police or Sheriff's Department. I mean, how cool is it when you're in a traffic jam because of an accident and one of the police officers strolls over to your car just to say, "Hi, sorry about the delay, we're waiting on the tow truck"? He didn't ask for vehicle paperwork of any kind; he didn't approach me because I was in any kind of trouble... I wasn't driving some fancy car or dressed up and looking super fly (you know me; tennies, jeans, t-shirt, and ball cap) so he wasn't trying to get my digits or anything like that. He certainly had no reason to believe I was rich or important, in fact I was in my awesome but old 1991 Ford Explorer at the time... it was pretty OBVIOUS I wasn't rich or important. LOL. He just came over to my truck to check in with a member of his community. He hadn't done it for any of the people in front of me... he was literally just being informative and nice.
With the recent stuff that's been going on in Ferguson it's easy to become polarized as a community or a country. Nobody who is white wants to address any situation that deals with race: certain things are still sensitive and taboo. I wasn't there when the Ferguson altercation went down, and I'm not naive enough to believe there's no such thing as police corruption or honor among thieves. What I can say is this, however; my personal choice is to always respect those in authority. Even if they get a little snarky with me, I still have a choice on how I'm going to respond. If my respect isn't being recognized or acknowledged then I will choose to become even more deferential, more submissive. I will do everything within my power to let the officer know that I am not a threat.
Police officers put their life on the line EVERY DAY. That's their job requirement. They're not helping you with your cell phone in some climate controlled call center, they're not a retail manager that you yell at when your purchase didn't end up being what you thought it was going to be. They're certainly not a chef you can send your meal back to when it's not cooked to your satisfaction. The simple fact that they wear bullet proof ANYTHING should be persuasion enough to be that much more compliant when approached.
As a white woman in America I'll never fully comprehend what it's like to be anything other than a "white woman in America." The fact that I'm overweight gives me some understanding of people's bias and prejudice, but it's not the same. My only hope is that if I'm ever weight-related profiled, God forbid this world ever comes to it, that I will remain calm and choose to act with the utmost deference to those who police and assist our communities.
To my friends who work in law enforcement - please know I appreciate what you do and support you - regardless of whether I'm on the receiving end of your assistance or confrontation.
*steps off soap box and resumes drinking her coffee*
I never had any traffic violations until after I was 30. No wrecks, no tickets, nothing. I think I'd had one fender bender in college but it wasn't my fault, and because I was driving a SAAB there was no damage to my car. (Steel girder for a bumper and all.) After I turned 30 it seemed like I was making up for lost time - those Eugene, OR police are ON IT! I got tickets for all SORTS of things... some of which were truly ridiculous. My license was even suspended for 30 days at one point (I could only drive to work and back) because I'd had too many tickets in a 6 month period! I'm not bragging or proud, in fact it seemed like I was being targeted and that kind of freaked me out. You should see how police officers approach a car that's been pulled over a lot. They walk differently; cautiously and hyper-alert. It was scary at times. There *were* one or two things during that decade that I absolutely had been guilty of, but 95% of the ticketed infractions were, in my opinion, unfounded or completely unknown on my part to have even happened. (How can I be following someone too closely when I'm the only person on the road for at least a mile?) During this time, however, I was never, NOT ONCE, disrespectful to any of the officers who pulled me over. I was emotional a few times, sure, I mean I was bummed and stressed over what was happening, but it was important for me to act and speak in a way that showed each officer that even if I disagreed with them I understood they were doing their job.Now that's not to say my only run-ins with the law have been negative. I mean, we're talking about ME, here, the neighbor in your apartment complex who knocks kindly, but confidently, on your door at 1:00 A.M when your music is too loud, and gives you two more chances to quiet down before calling the cops. ME: the driver who calls 911 when Mr. Speedway zooms past her at the speed of light and almost forces another driver off the road. ME: the lady who, "just in case," flags down an officer when a man is talking a little too loudly and forcefully to the woman he's with. I can't begin to count the number of times I've had positive interactions with the Police or Sheriff's Department. I mean, how cool is it when you're in a traffic jam because of an accident and one of the police officers strolls over to your car just to say, "Hi, sorry about the delay, we're waiting on the tow truck"? He didn't ask for vehicle paperwork of any kind; he didn't approach me because I was in any kind of trouble... I wasn't driving some fancy car or dressed up and looking super fly (you know me; tennies, jeans, t-shirt, and ball cap) so he wasn't trying to get my digits or anything like that. He certainly had no reason to believe I was rich or important, in fact I was in my awesome but old 1991 Ford Explorer at the time... it was pretty OBVIOUS I wasn't rich or important. LOL. He just came over to my truck to check in with a member of his community. He hadn't done it for any of the people in front of me... he was literally just being informative and nice.
With the recent stuff that's been going on in Ferguson it's easy to become polarized as a community or a country. Nobody who is white wants to address any situation that deals with race: certain things are still sensitive and taboo. I wasn't there when the Ferguson altercation went down, and I'm not naive enough to believe there's no such thing as police corruption or honor among thieves. What I can say is this, however; my personal choice is to always respect those in authority. Even if they get a little snarky with me, I still have a choice on how I'm going to respond. If my respect isn't being recognized or acknowledged then I will choose to become even more deferential, more submissive. I will do everything within my power to let the officer know that I am not a threat.
Police officers put their life on the line EVERY DAY. That's their job requirement. They're not helping you with your cell phone in some climate controlled call center, they're not a retail manager that you yell at when your purchase didn't end up being what you thought it was going to be. They're certainly not a chef you can send your meal back to when it's not cooked to your satisfaction. The simple fact that they wear bullet proof ANYTHING should be persuasion enough to be that much more compliant when approached.
As a white woman in America I'll never fully comprehend what it's like to be anything other than a "white woman in America." The fact that I'm overweight gives me some understanding of people's bias and prejudice, but it's not the same. My only hope is that if I'm ever weight-related profiled, God forbid this world ever comes to it, that I will remain calm and choose to act with the utmost deference to those who police and assist our communities.
To my friends who work in law enforcement - please know I appreciate what you do and support you - regardless of whether I'm on the receiving end of your assistance or confrontation.
*steps off soap box and resumes drinking her coffee*
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