Oh, a storm is threat'ning

To rely on the kindness of strangers

As I was leaving the Metro tonight I passed somebody who started to say ‘hello’.  Nothing strange there, the mobile signal in Metro stations is pretty good and people talking on hands free is a regular occurrence.  Then I heard the ‘hello’ repeat as I walked by along with a ‘can you help me’?   I turned to see a blind lady with a stick.  I asked if I could help and she introduced herself at Kathy.  She told me she needed to leave the station by a particular route in order to catch a specific bus and asked if I would help her do that.  I offered her my arm and off we went.  Our journey together lasted around 7 minutes and included stairs, ice, road crossings, more ice, a grilled footpath and even more ice.  A bus came, it was the number 42 Kathy had wanted and I put her on it.  During our few minutes together she had shaken my hand, told me she felt safe with me because I was tall, let me know she thought Scots were great, asked me about my family, my home and the books I was reading.   I told her liked spy fiction and she spoke about a number of South African spy novels she had read and about the magazine article she was planning to look at on the bus home. 

Now a few things spring to mind.  First off, I’m a police hostage negotiator, and I know I was being Stockholmed!  Kathy, had done all she could to make me her friend; she’d shaken my hand, introduced herself, told me I made here feel safe, related to my interests and, most importantly, my family, thus endearing herself to me -  and all in 7 minutes!  

Now here’s the thing, this is the second time a blind lady has asked me for assistance in DC.  I have, to the best of my memory, never been asked for that kind of help in Edinburgh.  I reflected on that a bit and I don’t think I’ve seen a guide dog in DC.  I may be wrong, but it’s not something that I’ve been aware of.  Here, on reflection, blind people seem to rely on sticks and strangers.  On one level thats nice, it’s good to know strangers are about and keen to offer assistance.  On another level, I wonder just how challenging that must be.  Every day hoping that a nice guy will be the one to answer your call and that he will take you where you want to go and put you on the bus you need to get on, all without malice or exploitation.  Wow, that is, in my view, some ask everyday and some lottery to roll your number into with no idea what your going to get.  It’s no wonder both the women I have helped have been expert communicators and both have expertly softened me up  in a way that made me want to help.  For me, that was no great ask, but I wonder what it must be to spend every day knowing that, at least part of your life, ebbed or flowed from the kindness of strangers?

Homeless in the cold

One of my friends mentioned homelessness in DC last week.  It’s about this time of year that DC counts the homeless in the area, a kind if census.  In January 2015 that number amounted to around 4000 - that was the number that was counted, who knows what the underlying numbers might be.  What I do know, is that it is absolutely freezing here just now.  Coats, hats, scarfs and several layers simply do not cut it; we are seeing temperatures of -15c at night.  Some of the advice is don’t stay out for too long as there is a real risk of frostbite.  

Coming home tonight, I counted 15 people sleeping outside between the cosy bar and I was in and the train I got home.  I was freezing, goodness knows how they felt.  It sometimes strikes me too that we look at he homeless with a sense of ‘ach down and outs’.  However, I often think that very few of us are more than three bad decisions from a living in a box.  

DC has a number of shelters, but here’s the thing I find interesting.  In Edinburgh, there are lots of homeless people.  In DC there are lots of homeless families.  Mothers, father, sons and daughters all living, as a family group, in the streets or in shelters.  Now, I’m sure that happens in Edinburgh too, but it seems just more noticeable here.  There has been a bit of coverage in the media this week about pizza shops where customers buy an extra slice for somebody who needs it and they can get it for free later.  This is one of these weeks where people need hot food and, I think, its great restaurants  and  their customers are happy to help with that.  Do we do that kind of thing in Scotland?  I don’t know?

On nights like tonight, I genuinely pray that all those without a roof will survive the biting cold and find somewhere warm too sleep and have comfort.  

An election victory for the Cannabis Party!

Another thing my friend mentioned was the legalisation of cannabis here.  Last November there  was, on the day of the mid-terms, a referendum about the legalisation of cannabis in the District.  And, you know what? The vote went in favour of the legalisation.  There are a couple of legislative steps still to go through, but it looks like cannabis use in the District will be legal very soon.  There are clearly many sides to this debate.  For my part, having spent time in San Francisco where this drug is certainly freely available and just about legal, it was fair to say society had not broken down nor had democracy collapsed.  It will be interesting to see how it goes in DC, I suspect nobody will really notice any great change when it does happen, but we’ll see.

A wee speaking gig

I was asked to go to speak about values based policing at the Police Foundation in DC this week.  This was quite a big gig and an opportunity to let a fairly mixed audience know what we are trying to do, in terms of a values based approach, in Scotland.  It seemed to go quite well and was a nice we way to bring to an end the work that I have been doing here.

Friends, monuments and Desperate Dan

I had a friend over last weekend, which was great.  Amongst other things, we went to see the monuments of DC such as Martin Luther King, FDR and the Korean War Monument.  On second, third and fourth visit to these I remain amazed at both the size and impact of these things.  In terms of size they are massive.  The FDR monument celebrates his lengthily presidency with statues including these guys, standing in the soup queue during the depression and are life sized as are the soldiers depicted in the Korean war monument.  

In terms of impact, America likes to celebrate its national heroes by way of statutes.  We visited the Capitol and looked at the 120 or so statues there.  As I’ve mentioned earlier,, each state gets to send two for display, often these include people who have contributed massively to the state in question.  Florida have a statue of John Gorrie there…bet you don’t know who he is?  In fact, Gorrie was the guy who invented air-conditioning, and, if you live in Florida, that makes him not just a hero but a lifesaver!  

I guess my point is America is not slow to acknowledge people of national importance and then build something big to celebrate it.  This is something, it seems to me, that we do a bit differently in Scotland, perhaps at a sightly lower key?  There’s the Scott Monument - massive; Hume’s statue - imposing; Donald Dewars statue - vandalised; Desperate Dan - pie eater, oh and that one with the cone on its head!  But there is, in my view, nothing on the scale, size and concentration of monuments in Scotland that I have found in the States.  I like the monuments here and I certainly feel they enrich American identity and history.  In Scotland we have heaps of both. I wonder if we should build more to remark on it?

We also travelled to Baltimore to see The Gaslight Anthem this week.  First off, it was a great gig with three bands for about £22…great value for money!  Secondly, it was in Baltimore, home of The Wire.  Every cop I’ve met with who has visited this city or knows about policing remarks that The Wire (not a link for the easily offended) was the most accurate portrayal of policing in Baltimore and, indeed America, that has ever been on TV.  I’ve re-watched a couple of episodes over here and it certainly is worth a look and, if thats what policing here is all about, then they face significant challenges!

Keeping people safe - American style

Talking of challenges, one of the places I was invited to this week was government building.  Cut a long story short, what want on inside was fantastic and really contribute to our safety but what was iconic was what went on outside.  They had three stones and thee flags.  On 11th September each year each of the flag poles casts a shadow.  The shadow of the first pole crosses the first stone at 0845, the time the North Tower was struck.  The second pole crosses the next stone at 0903, the time the South Tower was struck.  Shadows are then cast at the time the Pentagon was attacked and the time Flight 93 crashed.  

I never really stuck in at school, so I have no idea how this happens.  What I do know is, I think its a great thing and in this land of symbolism this is one of the finest I’ve come across.  The same building has artefacts from that day and each day workers in that place remember exactly why they are there and what they are entrusted to do.  That’s a heavy burden to carry into the office each day.  I left not just feeling America was safer because of their work but that the world was too.

Diversity at dinnertime   

On Friday night I was out for dinner.  I was in DC, in a Russian bar, surrounded by Asians, eating Greek food and drinking Scotch!  The diversity of this place never ceases to amaze.  The TV was on in the corner.  In America the TV is always on, since I’ve been here I’ve only visited one bar where there was no TV and that was at The Willard.  To be honest, I was sorry they never had a TV because at $15 for a gin and tonic I’d have liked to have had something to watch as I sipped values for money from my glass!  But back to the point, the TV was showing the basketball, always a big Friday sport and, whilst there was interest in what was happening, there was no partisanship or shouting or swearing at the telly going on.  I like that!

What I’ve learned this week…

Blind ladies would make great negotiators

Families don’t look good in cardboard

Flagpoles can be really impactive

It’s nice that people work hard to keep us safe

Nostrovia is a good word to know in America

Any thoughts or comments are, as always appreciated.