Hoping this finds you all in survival mode and thinking about time left over to relax and reflect. It’s been a whirlwind kind of year and we all became less easily shocked at what just might happen next. It almost came to a point of mystery as the bar continued to rise on the impossible in America expectations. I would imagine nearly everyone is looking forward to a new year as much as I am.

Many have struggled with heartache and health issues, financial hardships and many dreams have moved to back burners for a while. But there’s also been joys and blessings, new dreams and new births. Always the Ying and the Yang. I truly hope this season brings all of you time with your families, some peace, love, rest and regroup time. We’ll be ready to meet 2010 with vigor and determination the new always brings.

For myself, I only ask for a recovery of energy to do so much of what I’ve left unattended the last eight months. I have a lot of unwritten words fluttering around in my yet disorganized mind. There really is so much to be grateful for even when we struggle. I’d like to share my Christmas poem with the Fabulously 40 Family and wish you all the nicest of holidays. It’s called “A Different Kind of Christmas” and I’m eager to make it happen! Everyone consider themselves hugged!  

The calendar is turning;
it's near the end of year.
A different kind of Christmas
is about to be, I fear.  

My list of gifts is growing,
and money's hard to find.
A different kind of Christmas
is forming in my mind.  

Oh, lights will still twinkle,
and snowflakes will still fall.
A different kind of Christmas
won't change that at all.  

Carols will still ring out,
and sleigh bells will still ring.
A different kind of Christmas
will be in the gifts I bring.  

My gifts won't cost money;
new traditions, I can start.
A different kind of Christmas
will come straight from my heart.  

I'll give love and understanding,
share a shoulder and a song.
A different kind of Christmas,
that will last the whole year long.  

I'll stand up for your honor,
and lend a helping hand.
And, hope a different kind of Christmas
will spread across the land.  

I'll offer my forgiveness,
toss old resentments all away.
I’ll wish for yours to be returned
For the times it was me who strayed.  

I'll take the time to thank you
as we gather by the tree,
for your part in our family
and all you've done for me.  

Isn't that what Christmas means?
Aren't all its treasures free?
I think my different kind of Christmas
Is what was truly meant to be.  

_{Susan Haley}

See you in the new year and we’ll get back to politics!

Thanksgiving is but a week away and I'm still lingering back between the Fourth of July and Labor Day! The speed of time passing has become a real bafflement to me! Though often accused of dwelling on another wave length, I'm beginning to believe it myself! Is it me? :)

I wanted to take an opportunity to wish all the Fab 40 girls and guys, and my faithful readers a happy and peaceful Thanksgiving. I'm thankful to Yana for giving me the chance to rant and loll back into journalism for a while. I really hadn't done much pure journalism since college. I'm now more inclined to write prose and poem. I'm thankful, too, for the girls that have followed my column and participated in the discussions, even those that disagree with my ideas and opinions. Unlike the Congress that is supposed to represent us, I welcome debate and discussion of ideas and I don't worry about my re-election as I'm not running for anything but the employment of common sense and critical thinking. Last but not least, I'm especially thankful that I was able to regain the wherewithal to do the writing I so love doing.

This is a bit early to begin season wishes, but I will be leaving Sunday to spend the holiday with my cousins at the Proud Spirit Horse Sanctuary out in the Ozarks. Some time in the pastures with the majestic animals finally running free after years of use and abuse by humankind will continue in aiding my mental therapy and lowering my stress levels. This trip, the computer is staying home. Not so, when I went north.

I would like to leave you with some timely questions to ponder in my absence, and possibly, any comments left could educate me upon my return. There've been a few issues these past few days that have both amused and confused me. Perhaps, some of you feel the same way.

It was said today in a couple of different media spots that the insurance lobbyists would be gathering in droves in the hallways outside the Senate chamber as the senators decide on the cloture vote to be held tomorrow evening. This isn't for a bill to be passed, but only to allow debate to come to the floor!
My question is: Why is this even allowed? When we go to the polls to vote, it's a law that campaigns or candidates cannot influence voters within so many feet of the polling place. When a jury makes a critical deliberation on the guilt or innocence of a defendant, they are sequestered. Why is the undue influence of lobbyists with checkbooks allowed inside the halls of our legislative branch of government when a vote that affects every citizen in this country is being taken? Why does no one ask this question?

I think most of us here, including Yana who immigrated here herself, would agree that when you visit another country, or decide to settle there, it's proper to at least attempt to respect that culture. When Hillary Clinton, visits the Middle East as our Secretary of State, out of respect for the culture there, she covers her head with a scarf. When other foreign leaders visit here, they extend their hands, as here a handshake is the epitome of respect. When former President Bush visited Saudi Arabia, he kissed the cheeks of the leader and walked with him hand in hand, as is the custom there. That was acceptable and respectful behavior.

Some of the folks here in America scream the loudest about immigrants learning the language and merging into our culture. English being the 'official' language is on many a ballot. And, that's okay. When in Rome, do as the Romans do . . . right?
Could someone, then, please explain to me why all the furor this past week because President Obama saw fit to bow to the Japanese Emperor as he entered the Royal residence in Japan? How can ex-Vice President Cheney claim that, "America Bows to No One" when we have no problem asking to borrow billions of dollars from these far Eastern nations? Instead of being so arrogant, it might behoove our leaders to get on their knees and hope the Chinese don't call in their debt and destroy us completely! Where does this man get off, anyway? Surely, he doesn't speak for America? Does he? Is it me?

And then the last thing, that probably affected me most adversely. Perhaps, I am green with envy! How can a woman who quits her job mid- way through, who has been proven to propagate ridiculous fears such as death panels, who claims to have foreign policy experience because she can see Russia from her home state, not her porch, she didn't say that, but 'from her home state‘, who advocates shooting wolves from airplanes, who has never written a word between the covers of a book, and casts doubt on if she ever even read one, can get paid millions of dollars to get someone else to write a book for her, and then tour around the country in a fully-equipped, publisher-supplied bus and have massive crowds standing in the cold and rain to drop $20 of their admittedly scarce money to obtain her scrawl on an inside cover without even as much as looking up and asking a patron's name? I observe these things closely. Are the citizenry of this country that desperate for reading material?

Can you, who've toiled hard for years, punched a clock, or poured out your heart to build a business or create something unique, or me, and a lot of other talented writers who've poured out their very soul, or the creative corridors of their minds onto pages, crawling through rewrite after rewrite for five years while holding down two jobs to keep a roof over head, and then STILL have to grovel, suffer rejection after rejection, and beg  people to visit your shop or publish your book, or attend your book signing that you practically had to bribe a bookseller to host, not be amazed by this phenomenon? I really didn't know whether to laugh, have another fit, or just cry. Where is the justice?! This is Capitalism, where work and effort are supposed to be rewarded? Is it me??

Perhaps you could all take pity on me and go to Amazon and order "Rainy Day People" as a gift for someone? Or be watching for the release of my new book to be released in early 2010, "Songs of the Soul". Or at the least, visit my website and allow me to accumulate some hits?! www.sucarha.com  Oh, this shameless promoting is embarrassing! And, I am kidding, girls. Or am I?

Enjoy your families and I wish you a Thanksgiving wrapped in rainbows!    

Susan Haley

Is America ever going to wake up? Are we beyond the point of all sense and reason? Is it approaching the point where madness has taken over? When I first heard of the unspeakable tragedy at Fort Hood, my first reaction was heartbreak. It seemed that over the course of these non-ending wars that can never be won, the multiple tours away from their homes and families, we had pushed our soldiers toward the precipice of mental breakdown. One had fallen over! That was my initial reaction, just horror and heartbreak.

As the magnitude of the problem continued to sink in, in addition to the heartbreak for the soldiers lost and their families, a sense of shock that this kind of tragedy could happen at a military base in our homeland began to fester into anger unlike any I've previously felt for all the preposterous circus sideshows so predominate in our society today. I was beginning to feel an absolute disgust and despair at what we, as a nation, have become. I forced myself to calm down and wait until all the facts were in, knowing in advance, the frenzy that would soon be all over the airwaves. The charges and counter-charges, and the onset of the blame games was so predictable. The extents of them are more absurd than I'd even guessed they would be. It's as if every time I think it can't get any worse, it does.

In the midst of all this Fort Hood horror, the radical right, including a good many well-lobbied and paid-for elected officials, are right in the thick of yet more ludicrous ranting and disrespectful rhetoric, replete with downright criminal signs of death camps and piles of bodies from the Holocaust pasted onto sticks dancing up and down over a throng of players dressed like circus clowns. They frolic on the very steps of the United States Capital building where, inside, intelligent debate is supposed to be taking place just to provide the few remaining middle-class working people with affordable healthcare and try to stop the economy from yet more free fall due healthcare costs. Fox News carries this debachle all live, although they are later caught running tapes that evening of a huge crowd that was at an entirely different gathering two months before the so called spontaneous revolution on the capital steps. It seems the crack producers failed to catch that trees a brilliant orange a clear blue sky in a manner of an hour returned to summer green and a cloudy day. It seems the crowd ballooned from a thousand to over a million depending on which broadcaster you listened to along with the miracle of mother nature going backwards. And our national disgrace, despicable lies and all, is portrayed on screens all over the Globe for the world to see!

Yet, the real kicker was to come this evening for me. Suddenly, my anger and disdain at the National psyche has erupted into full-blown fury. Without reiterating all the information since released in regard to the events at Fort Hood and the Major Hasan who supposedly perpetrated them, the recap interview I heard tonight was the precipice for me. The precipice at which to 'blow' any cool I had left!

When asked why the Department of the Army hadn't done anything about Major Hasan's status after receiving detailed CIA Intelligence Reports questioning his ever-increasing sympathies with Islamist Extremism? And these, in addition to earlier received reports of substandard performance while at Walter Reed, and pleas by the Major himself NOT to send him to Iraq where he'd be forced to witness the carnage? Again, the question was repeated, "Why didn't the Department of the Army do something?" It seems, now, that they've had this information for several weeks!

Bob Baer, former CIA Intelligence Officer, now a columnist for "Time" magazine answered thusly. "He hadn't committed a crime and they had," are you ready for this, "FREEDOM OF SPEECH!" Freedom of Speech? Do you mean to tell me, we aren't allowed to yell "Fire" in a crowded theatre, but we can rant about a radical Jihad and sympathize with the so called enemy while serving as a MILITARY OFFICER? No action can be taken there, BUT, you and I can be forced to nearly strip down to the flesh, be pulled out of line and interrogated, have our luggage searched and a lousy tube of toothpaste confiscated at some TSA's random choosing just for attempting to board an aircraft to fly home and see 'grandma'?! I've never heard such ridiculous bull crap in my entire life! And, Mr. Baer defended this based on Law!! Who makes laws that can pick and choose who gets Freedom of Speech and who doesn't? Another guest, Robert Cressey, former National Security advisor even seemed somewhat lost for words!

When Freedom of Speech allows the havoc and murder of thirteen innocent people, disrespectful behavior on the steps of the capital, bare-faced lies on the airwaves, generates hate and violence, and displays of total ignorance by the populace, it's no longer a right. It's depravity. When the Freedom to Bear Arms allows any idiot to walk in and buy a semi-automatic handgun or an AK-47 Assault Rifle, or an uneducated boob to walk into a Presidential address displaying his guns proudly on his hip, it's no longer a right; it's a murder weapon. When the "Right to a Fair Trial" becomes a plea-bargaining game between trial lawyers, it's no longer a right; it’s a joke on the tax-paying citizen supporting the judicial mayhem. I've never seen in sixty-six years of life the utter disrespect for the Office of the President as I've witnessed in the last ten years. I've never seen such a huge degree of ignorance, self-centeredness and corruption in the halls of Congress, not that it hasn't always been there to some degree. I've never seen the broadcasting media reduced to such levels of smut gathering and exploitation to feel the radical lusts of the viewers. It’s all about ratings, you know.

But worst of all, when I see the American citizenry allow it to go on and not demand by the MILLIONS, just for starters, fairness and decorum, impeccable honesty and credentials, intelligent debate, or raise a cry of anger as their religious faiths are manipulated to serve politicians, and their tax dollars go to pay for continual and endless wars for oil and nation building, while never mentioning deficit when its for war spending, then I know we are lost. Considering what was done to the Native Americans and the Blacks, maybe we've never been 'found'!

Either way, we have, definitely, passed the point of no return. When we as a nation, are willing to settle for this kind of behavior and treatment, we deserve everything we get. You see, this government IS created by the people; even if it's people doing absolutely nothing. It is created by the people who rally together and vote an individual into office, and then demand everything to change to suit only them overnight or withdraw their support and rant with the rest. It's created by those who immediately put up walls determined to block any progress away from their own self-interests. It's created by those who buy into all the lies and the slander without checking and researching the information for themselves and voting the violators out. To be blatant, it's created by ignorance, laziness, and lack of simple manners on how to behave. It's created by demanding rights that don't even apply to the principle behind them.

So, at this moment, not only am I NOT proud to be an American, I'm even less proud to be a member of the human race.

Susan Haley

Yana Berlin's post, I'm Angry  has been rumbling around in my penchant for pondering ever since I read it a couple of weeks ago while still in Pennsylvania. I was moved to print it and mused over it outside under a tree where my inner voices speak with crystal clarity. I wander on precarious ground to expound on it, as the message couldn't have been better said or clearer than Yana expressed. I've encouraged her in the past that she should consider pursuing a more structured writing career. She's gifted with the talent and writes from her heart, a rarity really. And, goodness knows, we sure need more of the voice of reason 'out there'. Even riled reason.

'Brainwashing' is a term that carries trepidation in the minds of most. We think of Nazi Germany, or a radical religious cult. Few refuse to accept that they are capable of being brainwashed by the stimulant of constant sensory input everywhere we go, even the grocery store. It takes courage to even make such a claim about our culture, especially our educational system! Anytime a society is founded on competition and standards imposed by others, a subtle persuasion begins to rule our lives unbeknownst to us. Some is necessary to avoid chaos, I think of traffic lights, but most is NOT.  

There are executives making six figures plus devising ways to control the mindset of the masses. It begins in grade school with the grading system, in after school sports where the emphasis is winning at all costs, usually fed more by the parent's frenzy at a game. It's prevalent in the workplace where a promotion often depends on climbing on the back of a co-worker or violating a personal value. We become so engrossed in societal demands, we, yes, forget to think FOR ourselves, to be true to our own standards. To employ common sense and instinct. We inadvertently think only OF ourselves and what we stand to gain. We're compelled to become a 'member of the pack' in order to be deemed successful or acceptable.  

And, we think we are so far above the lesser creatures in the animal kingdom? We practice survival of only the fittest and compliance to pack standards in everything we do, including worship. But who defines 'fittest'? Who sets the standards? Really think about that for a moment! It’s scary.

In her post, Yana zeroed in on the problem of no one listening to the one boy who happened to have a different opinion, or perhaps, an alternative idea. Yet, what do we see night after night and day after day in the very halls of Congress that makes our laws, the workplace where we have to earn a roof over our heads, the media that supposedly is to inform us? Few businesses welcome a subordinate's idea or method. Media outlets are told what to broadcast and what to keep under wraps. Worse, what to play down, and what to exploit.

Daily, we are spoon fed 'breaking news' on what pill to take, what food to eat and not eat, what we should weigh. We are told to call a lawyer if we have a problem, a doctor if we have an upset stomach, and if a school calls and says there is a discipline problem with one of our children, we tend to attack the teacher or even sue!. Yet, we vote for a school board member without knowing a darn thing about them beyond what the neighbor told us. If we even vote at all in our local elections!  

We are told what to wear to be in style, how to wear our hair to be most attractive, what to clean our house with, and where to go for planning a vacation, if you can even take a vacation. When are we forced to contemplate an issue, research a question on our own, or choose a course to take in a given situation? When are we allowed, or encouraged to investigate several options and decide on what's best for us. Why do we look for someone else to 'lead' us or inform us?  

For that matter, why do we need a go-between to talk to God for us? Or for God to talk to us! That is the paradox of unworthiness on one side of the coin, and species arrogance on the other. On and on . . . there are hundreds of examples. We are so enmeshed in these methods we don't notice our own lack of critical thinking. It's just easier to be 'told' than to 'do', to learn through cause and effect!

In the course of writing several columns as Fab 40's 'Political' columnist, I think you would be hard-pressed to find one (all still available) in which I failed to implore that folks research issues, become familiar with their own congressperson's voting record, to study the issues and look beyond what's simply good for you and think of what is good for the country as a whole. I reiterated again and again that my thoughts were my opinion and encouraged others to form their own if they didn't agree.

Many commenters agreed with my ramblings and many attempted to refute them. At times, I had to walk away and breathe deeply to keep from being argumentative or even defensive; I am human, after all. But, this reaction usually happened only when I could see that the individual was quoting the same rhetoric heard continually on the airwaves as if it were gospel. Or, frankly, attempted to stand on solely their own personal religious doctrine. I'm a firm believer in separation of church and state and don't think most of the explosive controversial issues should even be part of a political platform. Talk about honoring the U.S. Constitution!  

I encouraged alternative ideas presented with decorum and researchable claims. This is how we learn, including me, to broaden our perspectives and have some empathy for the 'other guy'. This is also how we really teach our children. My heart aches for a child that is not taught responsibility, hard work, and integrity, and yes, manners. My heart also aches for parents who honestly believe they are giving their children a better life than they had by spoiling them rotten and seeing to it that they never have to face a challenge or want for a thing. Or, that the world is all about them.  I so agree with 'calling grandma!' The day will come you won't have one to call, and
probably 'Grandma' has forgotten more than we'll ever know about living life!

I admire the way in which Yana Berlin was raised in her Russian background. I am lifted that she is attempting to pass these old-fashioned values on to her own children, now adults. Personally, I am of the belief that every kid should have to work and stand on their own two feet for a year or two before they even enter an institution for higher learning. Rarely is an eighteen-year-old mind experienced enough NOT to be bait for brainwashing and peer pressure, the need to be 'part of the pack'. And,  even the teachers are told what or how to teach to meet the 'standards' or criteria set by that particular institution. Deviating in any way can be cause for dismissal. How easily we tend to sell our very soul for a job or society's acceptance.

Thank you, Yana, for bringing attention to a subject that is often avoided, defended, or even shunned. Yes, we as a society need many more voices like yours who are willing to tell it as they see it and the consequences of acceptance or non be dammed!

Susan Haley,
Author/Editor  

PS I'd like to publicly send my sincere condolences to China Doll on her recent tragedy. No one can even imagine her pain at such a loss. Thank you all for being patient during my extended absence. I so appreciate the private thoughts sent to me.

It's been almost a year since I titled a column here "The Cacophony of Chatter." I could realistically use that title again if one watches the political scene with any regularity. Sadly, I think it has recently gone beyond chatter to chaos. All elements of intelligent debate have since ceased as the two radical wings attempt to outdo each other for the most air time with the media pundits. Somewhere in the mist of this fog, once again, the American citizenry will come up the losers.

Admittedly, I have been sidetracked the last several weeks due to health issues. My own critical thinking ability has been at less than optimum. Yet, it has also taken me into the realm of health care in this nation. I can personally testify, if I may be so crass, that it sucks! I love my doctor and my health care professionals. I love my little independent pharmacy. My problem is not with the providers. But, when I happen to hear some congress person rant about the proposed reforms bringing the government into my healthcare, I want to shout, "Please, let it be so!"

When my doctor tells me he'd like to do a specific diagnostic test and follow a certain recovery plan, but the insurance company won't cover it. Can I afford to pay for it, of course, I answer "No."  When my pharmacist tells me that my meds have been ordered and approved by my doctor but the insurance company won't cover them, can I pay for it myself, again, I answer "No." This is health care in America, girls. What to do for a person who's not really old enough to be put before the 'death panels' and has worked for fifty years? The reform government wants us to have access to the same insurance plan that the congress has? Please, let it be so!

Yet, what I really want to address is not my personal political view. What I want to address is the trepidation I feel; the trepidation I think most of you feel. I fear our government has lost all sense of its job. I think most of the elected officials have forgotten that their purpose is to insure that ALL Americans have equal rights and liberties. I fear that any sense of civility and productive debate has been lost to a drive for re-election and promised pay backs. I fear that the news media has forgotten that their job is to report truthful news, not encourage radical hype for ratings. I fear 'freedom of speech and the right to bear arms' has been enmeshed in lies, rancor, hate-mongering and violence.

When the right to bear arms means to carry loaded weapons to presidential town halls, or into an Arizona saloon, we are in grave danger. In a country where murder and assault are commonplace and children are shot on their way to school, hand gun controls, to me, are comparable to keeping nuclear weapons out of the hands of questionable governments. (Which is soon going to be us at this rate) When we are told that the United States Military may be planning a coup to overthrow the Obama government, or a popular social online site runs a poll on who favors assassinating the president, we are in deep muck.

When life or death for our populace is reduced to a screaming match between our leaders and their radical followers, one has to worry. All the while spending billions on banks, oil and economic globalization, military might, and nation building. When manufacturing weapons becomes our most productive industry, we are no longer a democracy, we are leaning toward dictatorship. When the welfare of the people and domestic policy are too expensive, yet war is always funded with borrowed or worthless printed money, we are heading toward collapse. If this climate continues, both the political and the environmental, it really won't matter what our individual political views are. We'll all go down.

But, we don't have to! Positive energy and right thinking will always win over negative energy and wrong thinking. We 'the people' have to re-learn how to think for ourselves. We must take an active role in recovering the right ideals, becoming aware of what's really going on in Washington. We have to study history and learn from past mistakes. We must demand accountability, if not full transparency in sensitive issues. We must stop re-electing officials who have been shown to be guilty of taking money for their votes or favors. The Congressional record is available to read if one takes the time.  

We must stop rewarding the con-artists and banking swindlers.  Most of all, we each need to practice the basic golden rule which is encompassed by ALL the world's religions. It covers most every circumstance that we'll come in contact with in a life time . . . "Do unto others as you'd have done onto you." A simple act of humble kindness will prevent more violence and aggression than all the guns and wars can ever do. How wonderful if everyone could practice the Hindu principle of "Ahimsa".  

Susan Haley, Author
RAINY DAY PEOPLE ? A Novel
FIBERS IN THE WEB
SONGS OF THE SOUL  

**Susan Haley is the published author of three books, several articles on networking, an award-winning poet, an independent copy editor and book reviewer for AME Marketing out of San Diego. She also contributes a column to "The Florida Writer" the official magazine of the Florida Writers Association, of which she is Facilitator for the Sarasota County Chapter. The audio version of her novel "Rainy Day People" was received a national award in the 2008 Indie Excellence National Book Awards. She also contributes a variety of editorials and excerpts of her work to various E-zines, newsletters and local papers.

Being commissioned to write a column here at Fab 40, I was asked to write topics either political, social, or cultural. The following is a true personal experience, my reaction to it, and my follow-up action. I hope you enjoy it, girls.

July 28, 2009

Venice Gondolier Sun
Venice, Florida 34285

Dear Editor

In the past, my communications to you have been to thank you for publicity given for a project or notable event for writers. Now, I wonder how often folks take the time to laud the Venice Police Department, most especially, an individual Traffic Officer? As a norm, most complain heartily at the sight of those red and blue lights whirling behind them. If I'm honest, I'd be no exception. The most they might receive is a sigh of relief and a weak thank you if it turned out to be a routine safety stop. Yet occasionally, rarely even, it ends up being the high point of your day. I experienced that euphoria this morning. And I do mean euphoria!

I was returning home to Laurel after an appointment at a medical lab in downtown Venice. As seems to be my fate, I'd caught every red light on Tamiami Trail where they converge a mere block apart. Adjusting speed didn't seem to matter an iota. It was my fate, after all. Upon being given the green light approaching the bridge, I noticed clarity of sky, space and lack of another car ahead. And, no more stop lights! On ascending the top, there was a need to stifle the urge to fly up, up and away from it all. Having fasted for a blood draw, I needed coffee! BAD!

Though this need was suppressed, unbeknownst to me, the speedometer had crept up to the fifty-two mph mark, over the designated thirty-five! After exiting the bridge, I noticed a Venice Patrol car pulling out behind me. Oblivious to my wrong doing, I continued on veering to the left turn lane. The officer remained behind me, but no whirling lights came on. They too, pulled in behind me while we waited interminably for the light, yes, it was red, to allow us to turn north. I remember thinking, that poor cop behind me must be losing their patience by now, too! We sat through two lights, causing me to assume someone had come to a full stop before the electric eye had triggered the timer.

Finally, we were turning north! Suddenly, the red and blue lights flashed on. Since we'd just sat motionless for near an eternity and no lights were whirling, I slowed thinking they needed to pass me. They didn't. In my naivet?, it crossed my mind that maybe the officer was sick and needed help! I pulled over, jumped out of the car and started back toward the patrol car! Wrong move! The officer said something, but I couldn't hear with all the road noise and continued to approach her. Again, she repeated, "Please have a seat in your car, ma'am."

Having worked for Law Enforcement in my younger years, it suddenly dawned on me that I'd just committed the cardinal sin in exiting my car! Instantly, I obeyed the lady. As she approached my vehicle, I asked her, "What have I done wrong? You've been right behind me, motionless just like I was! I'm sure I had my turn signal on. I think."

She smiled pleasantly, explained my error, and then requested my drivers license and registration. Not the usual stern face and, almost curt, demand before another word is uttered. Meanwhile, as she peers at my documents, I'm still chattering like a cat-scared squirrel as I always do when confused. The officer chuckled in spite of herself, but said nothing until she informed me that she would be right back. Oh, oh. To the computer and the violation book, she goes. The thought fleeted through my mind that perhaps, she was laughing at my bungling and not with me! So, I waited for my fate and dwelled on the coffee waiting at home. At least, I was innocent of any questionable activities other than my senior moment mind, a love of flight, and a caffeine addiction.

There is, however, a much more profound point in my decision to write this little accounting of my experience. It's been all over the news for the last week; all the hoopla about the black Harvard Professor, Mr. Gates, and the Cambridge Police Department. Prior to that headline, it was the Hispanic Ms. Sotomayor who had to be approved by the white power base, at times at the expense of her dignity. The still-present sore in this country of racial profiling, and the rhetoric of who is and who isn't guilty of reverse racism, was illustrated for me today. You see, the Venice lady police officer who stopped me, a white, war-baby woman, was a black woman with an imposing but dignified stature. She oozed a right to be respected just in her mannerisms and how she performed her duties.

After pondering it for a while, I realize now that she didn't put her whirling lights on at the turn as that would have held up all the traffic behind us. It was proper procedure to allow me to proceed until we reached a place to pull off the road safely.

I'm all too well aware of the municipal and county governments struggling with lost revenues. It's the end of the month, quota time, and I had broken the posted speed limit, intended or not. This officer could have, rightfully so, cited me with a points traffic violation. If anyone had a reason to harbor deep down resentments and reverse profiling tendencies, this woman did.

She chose to treat me as an individual. Judge me on my character as it appeared to her, and treat ME with respect. She was professional while exuding her own character as a pleasant and personable person. With all due respect to law enforcement, this officer was a gem; the epitome of what a police officer should be. Oh yes, I am sure my license tag was run before the lights whirled, as it should have been. Still, her own personal character dictated how I, a good citizen, deserved to be treated.

I've worked with 'cops'. With the possible exception of the State Patrol troopers, this woman commanded more respect from me than any cop ever has before. I was left standing on a street corner in the City of Sarasota following an accident in which my car was loaded on a truck and the man who struck me in the rear, again while waiting motionless at a red light, was cited on the spot for DUI and driving with a revoked license from prior DUI's! The Sarasota Police Officer who handled the accident was a white woman who never bothered to ask if I needed a ride somewhere. She merely slapped a copy of her report in my hand and walked off. Only the Sarasota County Fireman asked if I would like a ride to the emergency room, which I refused. The tow truck driver offered to take me to my ultimate destination when it was obvious I was stranded.

Unfortunately, I didn't notice the officer's last name this Tuesday morning, but her citation book had a label on it saying only "Terry". I'm sure the Venice Police Department will know who was assigned to that area today on the 7-3 shift. There simply could not be two officers like Terry! She returned my documents with a warning. Her persona just begged a bit of my writing humor, so I said, stupidly, "I should have had my Obama Sticker in the back window."

Officer Terry looked me right in the eyes, her own bright eyes still sparkling, but expression changed. "It wouldn't have made a bit of difference," she said.

Terry might have passed up the opportunity to get any revenue out of me, but, I can testify to her superiors and to the community, she definitely procured a tremendous impression, goodwill and respect for Venice P.D.'s finest! And, a new hope for America. Thank you, Terry. You made my day!

Susan C. Haley, Author/Editor
Laurel, Florida 34272
c.c. Venice Police Department