Officer Friendly

When I was in grade school there was a program called Officer Friendly through the police department. An officer or two came into the classroom and gave us safety tips. In those days, a lot of children walked to school so he talked about crossing at the corner, not talking to strangers, etc. They were very careful not to scare us. One of the tips was to never approach a strange car and never accept candy. They drilled it into us that we were never, ever to get in a car with anyone we didn't know.

I was a crossing guard in 5th or 6th grade. A man offered me candy and offered to drive me to school -- 1 block away. I ran and as he drove away, I wrote his license plate number on my arm. The nice policemen came and honored me with a little certificate a few days later.

The other day I was driving to the lake. Just me and the dog cruising along... Apparently, we were cruising a little too fast because we were pulled over. The officer had so much fun petting and chatting with the dog that he decided a ticket wasn't necessary.

I'm grateful to my big, black dog for the diversion. I'm also grateful to Officer Friendly.