EPIPHANY OF THE DAY

 POLICE OFFICERS

I’ve always gotten on well with police officers. Let me rephrase that, some of my best friends served as police officers. When I read or hear of the highly publicized malpractices of a few of the nearly three-quarters of a million law enforcement officers in our country, I think of a man I knew in a city not far from where I live.

He was a paragon of virtue. Just ask some of those who remember him. A realtor, banker, insurance agent, entrepreneur, and winner of every “man of year” award his city offered, he never harmed a soul. A real person, he is also the living representative of the same man in every city in which I’ve ever worked. The church house walls bulged at his funeral.

One of his big sources of income was selling homes to people who couldn’t afford a mortgage. He sold them “on a contract” which means they built up no equity unless the loan was paid in full. Folks in town told about the poor fellow, almost always African American, who had faithfully paid his monthly installment for years before missing a month due to a family hardship. Next day he would find his home being cleared to make way for the next family getting it “on contract.”

The newspapers never reported on that.

“Yes, as through this world I've wandered

I've seen lots of funny men

Some will rob you with a six-gun

And some with a fountain pen

And as through your life you travel

Yes, as through your life you roam

You won't never see an outlaw

Drive a family from their home.”

-          - Woody Guthrie “Pretty Boy Floyd”