WHEN DETAILS ARE LACKING AT HIGHWAY POLICE DETAILS

"Judge not, that ye be not judged.
For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again." (Matthew 7:1-2)

The issue of whether police officers are needed in place of traditional highway "flagmen" (or "flag women") at construction sites along the roadways of Massachusetts has been a "hot button" issue for many years. I've heard that it was only Massachusetts which mandated police officers (rather than flagmen) at all of these roadway construction sites, although someone has said Hawaii also requires police officers rather than civilian flagmen. The cops can make big money at these roadside details- many times doubling or more than doubling their base police officer salaries. Until not too long ago, there was no way a construction crew on a Massachusetts roadway could use a civilian flagman. I do know that somehow Governor Deval Patrick got something enacted a couple of years ago which does allow for civilian flagmen in certain specific cases, and once in a great while (such as recently on a back road in Sharon, MA) I will come upon a roadside construction situation that is using a civilian flagman, but probably ninety-eight percent of the time, it's a police officer you'll encounter in those situations. Honestly, I hate coming upon those roadway construction projects with cops directing traffic; I hate this for many reasons. One time, over twenty years ago, I came upon a situation in Framingham where the cop just stood there! He didn't direct me to stop or to go. He just stood there!Finally, frustrated and confused, I just started driving. He "flipped out" and demanded I pull over. He started giving me a big lecture, saying he could write me a $100 ticket. I calmly told him that I was waiting for him to give me some sort of direction, and that when he did not, I gave up and started driving. He got all annoyed and frustrated, but (I think) realized that technically, I was right! "Oh...get out of here!"he yelled, and I did exactly that!

Another time in Framingham, I rounded a corner and immediately encountered a roadside construction site and a police officer. I think he may have been an auxiliary cop. He was a goofy looking guy wearing one of those Russian winter caps. He immediately signaled for me to stop, came over, and speaking to me like I was a disobedient 3-year-old, gave me a talking to about not assuming everything was going to be fine when I made a right turn. I just nervously thanked him, nervously apoligized, and quickly drove off! Still another time I was driving along in Framingham on a side street off Route 135 near Monnick Supply. There was a very confusing roadway construction situation. There were a couple of "saw horses" in the road, a cop or two, and a few construction workers. It was not clear if the roadway was open or closed. It was not clear what was going on or what drivers were to do. There was one car in front of me, a mid-sized American sedan driven by an old lady. A cop stopped her and proceeded to chew her out for not knowing what to do in this situation. I was so glad that poor old lady was in the car in front of me, because I had no idea what to do, either!

You may have guessed this is all leading up to something, and it is. Yes, I had another one of those "detail police officer roadway situations" recently. This time, it was not in Framingham, but it was in Sherborn, less than a mile from the Framingham town line. On a fairly rural roadway, a bright orange "Utility Work Ahead" sign had been placed at the side of the road. I did not encounter the utility work for almost a half mile. Suddenly, there was a big white truck stopped in the roadway. I mean it was a big white truck. I mean it was a huge white truck! I was surprised there was no cop right there telling me what to do. Obviously, this was a huge construction vehicle and I had come upon the site. Again, I just wondered, "Where is the cop?" I pulled around the truck and began proceeding forward. Suddenly, I heard the truck's horn blasting.Then, I noticed a car was coming right toward me and the cop was a distance ahead of me! It turns out that the huge white truck had nothing to do with the construction work. It was just stopped by the cop doing the detail. But, the truck was so long and so big that it completely obstructed both the construction site and the police officer! I quickly threw the old Subaru's transmission into reverse and proceeded to back up! By this time, two or three cars had stopped behind the big truck. So, I had to back past the truck and the cars, and manage to maneuver into line. Honestly, I was scared. I did not want to be stopped by the cop and get a ticket or another lecture! I was actually tempted to just do a three point turn, go the other way, and find another route into Framingham! Alas, I stayed in the line of traffic. When I came to the police officer, I experienced one of the most humiliating events of my life in the past few years, and for those of you who know how many very difficult and humiliating things that have happened to me in the past three or four years, you know that's really saying something! The cop looked like he just came right out of central casting for "arrogant, macho, confident, small town police officer". He had what we New Englanders call a "wicked short haircut", and intimidating demeanor. As I drove by, he slowly but disgustedly and condescendingly shook his head back and forth as if to say, "You are the most stupid, pathetic, and incompetent loser I've encountered in a long time. They should immediately take your license away." I guess being a somewhat nerdy looking guy who is almost age sixty and driving an unimpressive 1995 small compact car which ironically sports a very desirable "low number" Massachusetts plate only added to his contempt.

Boy, there is so much I really wanted to say to him! You know, when you're stopped behind one of those huge trucks, you really don't know what's going on. It was an honest mistake. But something tells me he would not have understood or cared. My father was "career law enforcement". He would never have become confused or disoriented in such a driving situation. Well, maybe he would have during his final year of driving when he was becoming senile, but "in his day" he never would have! Now, my mother was a different story. Honestly, she had her own list of embarrassing situations that happened on the road with detail police officers. My father had a very macho and sensible way of looking at life and tackling life's challenges, and my mother kind of went by feelings and intuition and just kind of expected things in life to be fair and make sense and miraculously work out. Her thinking process was usually anything but practical, although she was a very, very responsible person. Well, I've inherited my father's powerful speaking voice and "stage presence" but I've also inherited my mother's tendency to be "not sensible" and to be "feelings oriented". And, no, that doesn't work well for you in those "detail police officer roadway situations"!

If my story about the embarrassing roadway situation a few weeks ago in Sherborn were in a sermon and I were using it as a sermon illustration, I would stress the importance of giving others the benefit of the doubt in life, and not laying a bunch of judgment and condemnation on them when you really have no idea what they may be going through or what life is throwing at them. And, just because you may have the demeanor and make-up of my father when it comes to this kind of stuff doesn't mean there shouldn't be equal room and respect for the people who go through life seeing the world as my mother did, or as I do!