Hugs and Helmets

Last night when we stopped to fill up for gas I noticed a young homeless girl sitting in front of the doors of the store. She had a giant backpack a paper cup of coffee and one of those "homeless, anything helps" signs made out of cardboard on her lap. She looked scared and anxious. As I looked at her through my side mirror I saw what she was anxious about. There was a Sheriffs car with the door open and large uniformed man was walking up to her. I could not hear the exchange but I could see it. The officer stood over her and spoke to her. She replied without looking up at him. He pulled out a pad of paper. A citation? I hoped not. I hope that on the piece of paper he ripped out of the pad and handed to this homeless girl was not a ticket, but a phone number or address of some place nearby where she could get a place to sleep and a hot meal. I like to believe that this officer was as kind hearted as these police officers in Denmark who instead of handing out tickets to bicyclists without helmets, where handing out hugs and free helmets.





I grew up scared of authority. But I like this. I like seeing police as the good guys looking out for our safety. Not people to fear.