Dispatches From the Department - 3

Today I began Urdu training with 2 others sentenced to Islamabad. Along with me, there were some 300 other American diplomats starting today to learn everything from Danish to Lao, Spanish to Turkish, Tagalog to Haitian Creole.

I take the shuttle to work in the morning to the training facility. Right before we cross Arlington Blvd. we pass an elementary school. Since it's morning time, there are a number of children and their mothers heading to the school. At the busy intersection, they wait for the light to turn green to cross on the crosswalk.

As we cross Arlington Blvd. we come to the national headquarters of the U.S. Army National Guard. Much of their parking is across the street, with a single well-marked crosswalk connecting the parking lot with the main entrance.

In the island of the crossing walk are two U.S. law enforcement officers. You can tell who they are because they wear bulletproof vests outside of their shirts, marked "POLICE" in white, front and back. At their hips dangle gigantic automatic pistols. And they wear large, shiny black combat boots.

As U.S. Army officers arrive at the crosswalk, in full uniform (meaning, of course, camo pajamas with a backwards U.S. flag at the shoulder), the two officers spring into action, stopping traffic in both directions while the officer slowly walks across the street.

And as you are watching this, you can turn around and see unaccompanied 4th graders making their way across the same street.

Sans well-armed police escort.

ps: I note the Doors video below. One of the pleasures of coming of age in Los Angeles during the punk era was getting to know a certain member of a classic rock band who remained very active in the scene. See if you can guess who I'm talking about from the two songs below, one from L.A.'s own X, the other from Manchester's Echo and the Bunnymen.

X - "Nausea"



Echo & the Bunnymen - "Bedbugs and Ballyhoo"