I don’t usually watch news podcasts, but I clicked on the baby panda and mom cuddling and somehow wound up finding a clip about an individual being pulled over for driving in excess of 100 mph in order to get his choking, dying dog to the vet. Now let me make myself clear. First of all, I am a pet lover, but I wouldn’t drive 100 mph to get my dog to the vet. I also respect law enforcement, and I understand that officers don’t know what to expect when they pull over a speeding car. However, the officer in this video doesn’t really attempt to give the guy a chance to explain, and then once the dog dies, the officer appears (by his comments) to be appalled that the man would go to such lengths for a dog! What bothers me is that the officer asked the man if he were willing to rear-end a family of 4 and kill them because of his reckless driving, all for a dog. The man does say, “No sir.” Fast forward to the end of the video where the officer is telling the man that he’ll be lenient this time since he understands the man thought it was an “emergency.” Then the officer proceeds to tell the man that the next time he drives like that he better have a dying child in his car. Wait…does that mean he could drive in excess of 100 mph, rear-end a family of 4, and kill them…as long as he himself had a dying child in the car?
I don’t know how to add the video link to this post; however, you can search for: “dog dies in ” on either google or youtube and see the video for yourself.
Saturday, 6. September 2008
Tina searched youtube better than I did, and she actually found a link to a GMA (Good Morning, America) newscast on the story!
[Reply]
Sunday, 14. September 2008
That’s horrible. I can’t bring myself to watch the video…you know how hard sad animal stories are for me.
Now, my thoughts are (and living with a cop I can tell you this is true) that while I am completely disgusted by the officers reaction I can understand why he reacted this way. I have seen first hand how desensitized people who work in law enforcement can become. They almost lose touch with all of their emotions because as soon as they let even the tiniest of emotions take control on a traffic stop they lose control of the situation and put their lives at even greater risk than they already are.
I think in some ways teachers become desensitized as well-not as extreme though. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to remind myself that these are kids, and their emotions cannot always handle the rigidity of some of the expectations we put in place for them. Our intentions are good (as were the officers when he gave the family scenario) but the actual outcome of those intentions are not always what was in the best interest of our students (or citizen on the side of the road). Sad…but true…in my opinion.
[Reply]