Manu the Policeman

This road safety talk was going to be different.

Normally the police that come to our school where I teach come as POLICE - you know, holstered gun (unloaded) or truncheon; an assumed air of approachable authority; a firm handshake and an ‘I’m-in-charge’ way of speaking.

But Manu came unshaven and disheveled, like he hadn't slept. His hair looked like it hadn't seen a brush in days. His gaze was distant, the only aura of authority the one clinging round his uniform.

Well, I thought wryly, this guy’s going to have fun trying to impose himself on the kids.

How right and how wrong I was.

He didn't impose himself at all. As he started speaking, something clicked. Eyes shining with a sudden burst of energy, he engaged the children naturally, with no effort to wear cutting humor like a badge to win the children's attention. His wit was warm, coming out inadvertently, freely, as he painted road safety situations with increasing clarity. The guy was a born communicator.

How did he do it?

He wasn't cool or loud or authoritarian or swaggering or even particularly sharp. He wasn't acting the part of ‘friendly local police guy’; he was communicating a genuine concern for the children’s safety.

"Be responsible," he urged quietly, "for your own sake". Instead of "don’t ride electric scooters till you’re the right age", it was, "if you ride an electric scooter, accept the consequences. If you have an accident, justice won't be on your side."

It was a message that went largely unfiltered by his professional ego. The guy just stated the law and appealed to the kids to decide responsibly.

Now why was that so refreshing?

It just struck me as being kind of an ant-like attitude.

I mean, isn't it ant-like to cast off the trappings of who you're supposed to be and how you're supposed to come across? Ants don’t strut or posture. Neither did Manu. He didn’t just come to 'do his police bit'; he came as a vehicle to connect kids with truth, with reality. He knew that the truth he was charged with conveying (responsibility on the roads) was bigger than him, bigger than his rough night and whatever personal situation he had at that moment. This wasn't about him being the approachable police guy; it was about helping kids to grow into responsible citizens. He knew his message went beyond himself, and he was energized by that.

That made me think. Like an ant carrying a load ten or twenty times its own weight, aren't we designed to bear a message much greater than ourselves? Aren't we created to share in a vision that exceeds the bounds of our own lives?

I don't know if Manu would consider himself part of a 'vision', but, disheveled and tired as he was, he somehow managed to be a vehicle of something bigger than himself.

Just like any decent ant, I'd say.

Without a vision, the people perish

Proverbs 29:18