Getting Bitten
Date: Jun 11th, 2008 4:59:02 am - Subscribe
Mood: excited
Currently Reading: Lord of the Flies ( ISBN: 0-571-05686-5 ): Watching Without a Trace
You think that working with dogs the way I do I would be more appreciative when my animals were gentle and good natured rather then mean spirited and vicious. The truth is though that I'm more nervous around the 'good' dogs then I am the 'bad' ones.
When I see the bright orange sticker on an animals file that says May Bite is a small source of comfort. That one little sticker tells me all I need to know about the animal. I'm aware that if I touch it or look at it wrong then it will try and hurt me. I'm aware that it's mean and will defiantly turn on me if I don't watch myself and take precautions to protect myself. Without that sticker I'm flying blind.
Even the most good natured dog has a weak point. They have a tick that sets them off and changes their behavior. For some it's their feet, for others their face, still others their stomach or back or tail. Some dogs don't like being brushed others don't like being shaved, but reguardless of which it is there is always something that a good natured dog doesn't like and each of them deal with it different. That's where the problems come in. I can always trust a mean dog to bite me when it doesn't like something, but I can't always trust that a good dog won't. There's the issue of predictability that can make a situation more nerve racking. Over time I've learned to ignore that risk and take it as it comes, but there are other aspects of life where the same principals apply, but are much more difficult to ignore.
I don't trust the police, and I take the same attitude with them as I do with dogs. When it comes to criminals I know that they're out there to hurt me. I know they wish to cause me pain and take what isn't theirs be it something as simple as money or objects or something more severe like my life. I can trust their actions and intentions to be about the same, but what about the police?
They start us out little telling us that the police are our friends. That we should trust and honor them and that as long as we don't break the rules ourselves we have nothing to fear from them, but as we grow up we learn that isn't completely true. We learn that police like the rest of us are human and there are good ones and bad ones. There are ones that fulfill their jobs and obligations with respect and integrity and there are those that allow the power and control they gain to get to their heads. There are those that become police because they wish to help people and put away the bad guys and there are those that want to wear the badge because they want legal power over other human beings.
Of course I don't wish to be taken the wrong way. I don't view all police as bad. I don't see them as unnecessary and I don't wish for them to be disbanded. I'm not raging against the machine and other then one police who was a jerk while giving me a speeding ticket ( which I will fully admit was my own fault and no one else's ) I've never had a bad experience with an officer of the law. Rather it's the exact opposite just about every cop I've had a run in with has been very kind and helpful towards me. However I take the same stance with officers, and really anybody with more power then me, as I do with my dogs. I trust that for the most part they will be good and helpful towards me, but I'm aware that they're not perfect and not gods and eventually I will encounter one that will try and bite me. I should never give them my full and unconditional trust and should never let my guard down around them no matter how kind they seem unless they have proven themselves to me. I think there are only two police officers that I know that have done this to my satisfaction both of whom have helped me and my family since we first moved here from giving us a hand when our heater broke in the middle of winter to aiding me during my first car accident.
Just remember that the thought should not be complete distrust, but trust with caution and awareness.
And on a last note excited is another word that they probably should have listed, but for some reason don't.
Comments: (0)
