Teachable Moment

The arrest of Henry Gates and the subsequent foot eating spectacle by Our National Treasure jogged my memory of a little "run in" with the police I had not so long ago.

One Saturday night a few years back, as I was preparing to take my wife out for the evening, my then toddler daughter somehow got ahold of the phone when I wasn't looking (my wife and other kids were out picking up the sitter), and was happily pressing buttons by the time I noticed her sitting on the floor with the receiver.

Fearing a hefty long distance bill for an inadvertent call to Auckland, I took the phone from my daughter and disconnected the impending call. I put the girl in her play pen and returned to the business at hand. And then the phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Yes, sir. This is the police. Did you call 911?"

What a strange question. "No, officer, I didn't."

"Sir, a call to 911 was placed from this number."

"Huh?"

"Yes, Sir."

Eventually it dawned on me what had happened and I started to laugh. I explained to him that the call had been placed by my daughter.

"That's fine, Sir, but we have to dispatch someone to the house."

"Really?"

"Yes, Sir. An officer is en route."

I hung up, bemused. The situation became more amusing to me with each passing minute and I was laughing heartily by the time I opened the door for the police officer. I welcomed him into my home, and explained what happened. He could tell in about two seconds that I was telling the truth, and after fawning over my daughter for a minute or two, he was on his way.

It was a very positive experience. I came away from it with a great story, and grateful that my town is served by decent, professional cops like the one who came to my home.

It certainly did not have to be a positive experience. I could have been an a-hole to the phone dispatcher. I could have stood in the doorway yelling at the cop and refused to let him into my home. I could have concocted some grievance litany or been verbally abusive to the cop. I could have refused the cops orders, and brought an arrest upon myself. I had the power to make things go very, very badly for myself. And instead, I chose to be jovial, friendly, humble, and mature, because I knew that was not only the smarter thing to do, it was also the right thing to do.

I knew all that, and I don't even have a faculty position at Harvard or anything.

Now, as for the President's "acting stupidly." Obama's presumptuous arrogance has been dealt with by others far more intelligent and eloquent than I. I am disappointed, but not surprised, that Obama extended the standard-issue non apology. I am disappointed, but not surprised, that it was only offered after Obama had basically been bludgeoned into doing so by an unending din of outrage and steadily declining approval polls. I am disappointed, but not surprised, that Obama still had to cast aspersions on the cops by throwing in the "race is still a troubling aspect of our society" remark. But what really makes me mad is the "teachable moment" bit. Obama couldn't just be a man and own that what he did was wrong. No, somehow the cops who did nothing wrong had to take their "fair share" of the blame. And it didn't stop there. No, Obama wanted it to be a "teachable moment" for the entire nation.

Because really, it's all our fault that Obama's a schmuck.