While I was rocking my daughter to sleep around 6.23am this morning, I used my other hand to watch the latest video clip on my phone of police officers back in the States using fear and physical violence to make their point against not-so-innocent US citizens. It was pretty disturbing.
Maybe they were right? Maybe they took things way too far? I can't really say.
All I know is that I have been wronged by police officers more times than I'd like to admit. It started when I was a scared 10-year-old kid and a police officer, with not much on his plate that day, sternly lecturing and then intimidating me inside the foyer of my own home because I allegedly called a grown-up neighbor a curse word.
My relationship with these "peace" officers grew more strained in high school and then hit a crescendo of distrust while in college. As a grown man today, I now understand a little bit more about how the world works. I've been to the parade, as they say.
But because of past encounters with the police, I have found that, in many cases, they do more harm than good.
This is just my opinion and indeed, it is not the law of the land. So if I have offended any actual police officers or relatives and friends of police officers, then I'm sorry.
But fear not, Abu Dhabi's finest are doing the right things and slowly but surely, they are changing my opinion of the police force. It's not in America but hey, it's a start.
* * *
My wife and I had just finished a late breakfast with our sleepy daughter at Carluccio's on the Eastern Mangroves when we decided to parlay her lethargic state into a walk down the waterfront.
As we strolled past the Eastern Mangroves Hotel & Spa by Anantara and before we made our way toward the concrete gazebos with the scenic mangroves to our right, we noticed a police car idled in the parking lot. Two officers were inside the cruiser and because of my many previous experiences with lawmen, I knew not to make any sudden movements as we walked by.
"You never know with these guys," I said to my wife pretending to be some veteran of police abuse.
The temperature started to climb digits as we walked and then the breeze suddenly went MIA so we decided to turn around and head back before our babe woke up from her slumber.
During our return encounter with the police officers, my wife decided to give an innocent wave and then the officer who sat shotgun signaled us to stop. He did not really say anything, opened the back seat door of the cruiser and started to fumble around in the back for something.
Miranda and I immediately started to wonder how this would play out. Because of the heat, she had taken off one of her three shirts and her shoulders were exposed. "He's going to give you a scarf to cover up," we muttered in unison. But could it be worse? Is he going to write us a ticket?
This made perfect sense, I thought. Happy couple just walking with their baby on the waterfront and here's a cop with nothing better to do. Why not flex his authoritarian muscles?
To our surprise, he emerged from the backseat with a four-pack of cold orange juice boxes for us. He may have seen my shirt starting to soak with sweat so he decided to offer us a refreshment. He didn't say much. Just handed over the beverages and sort of nodded his head.
It was a very nice gesture and we thanked him. It was not like he had looked for anything in return. There were no cameras rolling. He just wanted to do something nice.
It did not matter that he was wearing a policeman's uniform and I was wearing a sweat-soaked T-shirt. We were all victims to the Middle East heat and together, we needed to hydrate.
And for that brief moment, through one kind act, my faith in the police was slightly restored.
The temperature started to climb digits as we walked and then the breeze suddenly went MIA so we decided to turn around and head back before our babe woke up from her slumber.
During our return encounter with the police officers, my wife decided to give an innocent wave and then the officer who sat shotgun signaled us to stop. He did not really say anything, opened the back seat door of the cruiser and started to fumble around in the back for something.
Miranda and I immediately started to wonder how this would play out. Because of the heat, she had taken off one of her three shirts and her shoulders were exposed. "He's going to give you a scarf to cover up," we muttered in unison. But could it be worse? Is he going to write us a ticket?
This made perfect sense, I thought. Happy couple just walking with their baby on the waterfront and here's a cop with nothing better to do. Why not flex his authoritarian muscles?
To our surprise, he emerged from the backseat with a four-pack of cold orange juice boxes for us. He may have seen my shirt starting to soak with sweat so he decided to offer us a refreshment. He didn't say much. Just handed over the beverages and sort of nodded his head.
It did not matter that he was wearing a policeman's uniform and I was wearing a sweat-soaked T-shirt. We were all victims to the Middle East heat and together, we needed to hydrate.
And for that brief moment, through one kind act, my faith in the police was slightly restored.
