A sense of overriding authority makes us arrogant sick creatures

Jun 16, 2011 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,
I wanted this story to capture the attention of every policeman, but then I thought what the heck! These things have now become a norm – happening all the time – some things just never change.
I witnessed an encounter recently which transported me back to something similar that I witnessed under the PNC administration: A traffic policeman on beat issued tickets/charges to a number of drivers who were in violation of the traffic regulations, then came a minibus whose driver was also in contravention of the law.
He requested his documents and after carefully examining them, returned them to him and waved him on. Then I was informed that the owner of the vehicle is a ‘big one’- a top functionary.
Now for this indelible story: some years ago during the era of the Tata buses I was making a trip to Georgetown one Saturday morning, and as had become a regular occurrence, the bus broke down leaving us stranded midway on the Linden Highway. I was lucky to be picked up by a kind gentleman who had a female occupant travelling with him. As we turned the Linden/Soesdyke Junction, a traffic cop signaled him to stop, and upon examining his car was both amazed and amused at the condition of the car: trafficators broken/not working; number plate damaged with letters/number at front not quite visible; and some other things, I heard him (cop) mention, not in order.
The cop was stumped, he couldn’t believe so much was out of place, from his deportment, manner of speech and dapper appearance it was very easy to infer that he was one who took much pride in his work.
He began to admonish the driver who by then had now assumed an arrogant and contemptuous manner; the expression on his face could not be mistaken.
Then the cop said to him let me see your driver’s licence and he responded curtly “I fuhget”, to which the cop smiled with a sense of authority at the thought that this pompous, wrong and strong disrespectful ‘Kind gentleman’ was a sure goner; will most certainly be booked today.
Honestly I was amazed by his phlegmatic disposition; his tolerance, too cool to be true! I’ll bet pennies to pin that you can never see such a display by any cop today, never!
The cop then asked him “do you have any form of identification?” and it seemed that was just what he was waiting for; he hastily reached for the dashboard, picked up a little book and thrust it to him with his head stiff-neckedly cocked to one side looking away from him, cocksure that this upstart of a cop would now be stopped in his tracks.
The cop opened the little book, examined its contents carefully, and believe me dear readers; instantly I saw a different traffic cop standing before me, his ego deflated, that air of confidence and authority which he was exuding had vanished.
He quietly closed the book and muttered to himself while shaking his head “imagine a Senior Government Officer” as he handed the book back to the driver and politely said to him “here sir” to which the driver snatched it away from him with disdain.
The cop with all that self-esteem and authority before, now drained by this encounter and still peering into the car said something, to which the female occupant, obviously pumped up by what she had witnessed responded in battle-like tone, with chest raised “you speaking to me?”
“Oh no not you ma’am,” the cop speedily replied. “Oh, it couldn’t be me,” she said emphatically.
They then drove away, relaxed and satisfied that they had floored this impudent cop. And to crown it all off, he said to her, to show how influential he was: “He shoulda try any stupidness and he woulda been looking fuh a job Monday marning”. I sat back observing this whole episode but they couldn’t care less about me, they just didn’t care.
Who the hell was I anyway or, what I saw or what I thought? I was invisible to them. And that’s what a sense of overriding authority does to us – makes us arrogant sick creatures.
Frank Fyffe

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