was part of yesterday's topic on my blog.
And tonight, had a thought from a different angle -- don't know if it was an epiphany, or simply another perspective.
Two thoughts.
A thought and a sub-thought.
In a conversation with a law enforcement person, he said, "All I know is [a human resources person in our company] says anytime we have any [paraphrasing] kind of complaint, or papers to give anybody, just come on out and they'll call them off the line and you can give them the papers."
First, a concept flashed across my mind, "Are you telling me he asks for this??!!" Like -- a guy at our company requests this endless parade of what are possibly mostly Nuisance Complaints, allowing -- indeed, inviting -- miscellaneous idiots to pester our employees, and interrupt our production??
The dissonance of logic was staggering: I almost wanted to hold onto my chair to avoid falling down. And then the New Thought kind of appeared --
maybe the point of allowing sheriff-folks to serve papers to people at work is --
not to intimidate the workers
but rather to
placate hostile forces in the community.
!
That was my light bulb moment (light bulb going on over my head).
When people with different ethnic backgrounds, some of whom speak different languages besides English, move into a community there are some locals who are going to be hostile. Would be nice if it weren't that way, but it is, and I'm thinking now that our Person, with many years' experience in this type of business possibly cultivates this sort of "safety valve" for those local people who have prejudice problems, hostility issues, and general, free-floating random hatreds: taking the stance -- "Hey, you have a problem with anyone? You feel someone has done you wrong? Let the sheriff come on out with the papers. He'll serve 'em!"
And that way the people who are hostile -- the "haters" as the kids say -- have an avenue, a channel where they can vent, and then sit back, satisfied, that they have "sent the sheriff" after somebody. It's like -- channeling, directing, managing the emotions and behavior of angry, difficult people.
This way, they are fee-fie-fo-fumming into the courthouse, airing complaints and waving papers around, instead of -- making crank phone calls, throwing a rock with a threatening letter attached through somebody's window, or, Heaven forbid, gathering a mob outside some newcomer's home, in the middle of the night.
Let 'em send the sheriff with the "papers"
and then gradually that segment of the populace begins to relax, stops taking its "Stupid pills" every morning, and people manage to find a way to live together.
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And I think, in my natural habitat of caring about people and wanting the best for people -- wanting things to go well --... I may have over-estimated how scared people are of law enforcement people bearing "papers." Yesterday I typed "terrified immigrants" -- that's not right, I was carried away in the moment. They're not terrified -- more like, shy and polite and very eager to get things right. They are actually some of the most courageous people I've ever seen, one reason I admire them.
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