Man, It's Like, Far Out, Man, Real Groovy, Man

I was pulling into the parking space in front of our township's municipal office yesterday when I saw a police officer walking along the sidewalk. I was driving slow enough to notice that he packed a gun, a 2-way radio, a taser, a baton and who knows, maybe even a light sabre. I don't know why, but a little nervousness crept into me. (Think of that scene from "Annie Hall" when Woody gets pulled over by the cop...)

Anyway, I almost drove past the policeman, half-expecting to be stopped for violating some secret traffic rule ("Sir, are you aware that it's against the law to be driving less than 4 feet from a uniformed officer of the law on a Wednesday afternoon? "N-no" "4 points and $10,000 fine".)

That's when the most ridiculous thing happened.

The cop flashed me a "peace" sign. Not a "hi there" wave (which would be pretty odd too), but a proper fingers-in-a-V sign.

I had to make a quick decision. Should I reciprocate his gesture with the peace sign? What if my index finger was suddenly paralyzed and only my middle finger remained up in the air? I would get ticketed for flipping a police officer in daylight. What if my middle finger failed me? I would look like a biblical figure (or a cricket umpire), pointing a finger to the sky. That could confuse the poor man. And if both my fingers refused to cooperate, it would look like a symbol of dissent. Not a good thing.

Thankfully, my finger-brain-eye coordination was perfect and I flashed a peace sign right back at him.

By some coincidence, a Beatles song came on the radio right at the moment this social transaction was made. (All right, it came on way before the peace sign business, but it sounds more dramatic and meaningful this way.) I am just glad it was not "Piggies" or else my brain would have exploded at the unscripted double irony of that moment.

You know, this may be a crazy world, but every now and then, someone goes against the grain and gives us a glimpse of the possibilities. Cops and robbers citizens trading peace signs. Now that is a beautiful world.