I was shopping with my wife at the Cortez City Market last week and we wanted to leave a couple of unused food items at the northwest corner of the parking area where indigent people tend to gather. As I was approaching the corner, a police officer pulled up in his patrol car – not to order these people to disburse but because he had noticed an unconscious woman down.
He approached the two or three people standing there and asked if the woman was experiencing a problem. The officer and bystanders joined in encouraging the woman to sit up, and she seemed to revive somewhat. When the woman appeared to be basically OK, the police officer said something like, “Let us know if there are any more problems.” One of the people gathered there responded with words like, “You are so kind.” The officer replied, “That is what we do.”
Here was a simple yet profound act of human decency that we seldom have an opportunity to witness on a trip to the grocery store … society’s least-advantaged interacting with one of society’s most powerful representatives of authority, and it was a meeting characterized by care and kindness. To me, that Cortez police officer represented the best in us.
Mike Maxwell
Mancos
