In my first novel, N.H.I., I tried to show my readers a glimpse of what it is like to be a cop…seeing the world as it were from behind his eyes. I showed you how Nate and his fellow officer dealt with “that” segment of our society. Well tonight was one of those evenings that reminded me of just why cops build such shields around their hearts and minds.
Imagine a 50-year-old woman, alone and unemployed. Imagine that its 3:30am and she’s screaming at the top of her lungs. She’s partially nude and she’s vulgar. Oh yes, and she’s drunk…very drunk. Now that you see our lady, imagine that the neighbors are peaking out through windows and doors and upon discovering who and what it is that’s making all the noise, they shake their heads and slip back behind the cover of a chosen ignorance.
She screams, she cries, she begs her husband just to look at her, just to touch her like a woman; but all he does is look at her with mild disgust and some pity. She has thrown dishes, and food, and houseplants; and all around the small living room lay broken pieces of furniture and the frames where family pictures once hung.
This is the world of N.H.I. A place where humans have exchanged the glory of being made in the image and likeness of God to become something other. Something other than human in their expression. Some become predators and feast on the innocence of children and the aged. Others become violent and hurt anyone they deem weaker than themselves. Still, others become possessed by greed and will destroy a kingdom just to gain its gold. But, all share one very common trait. They have all reduced themselves to being less.
As a street cop working the grave shift, these are the people I usually deal with. This is the reason a cop, if not careful, will reduce the world to two sides…the good against the bad, the us against the them. This is where you have to remember that even when they are at their ugliest and they smell and look their worse, beneath it all is still a person for which Christ has died. Even when there are truly N.H.I.: No Humans Involved, we, the good guys still have to be….Human .….Just saying.
It's not only cops who lose their vision of the humanity behind the person acting like a monster. We all do it. The important thing is to be aware of it, and find our way back to realizing there really is a human being in there. None of us are perfect! That simple reminder often helps me see the humanity in someone else when it's difficult to find.
ReplyDeleteBTW, what deep and abiding pain that woman must have been in to let herself get to that point... Still there is a point where people must take responsibility for their actions and reations...
There's only so much any of us can do.
T.L.
ReplyDeleteVery true and quite insightful.