CHOPPED LIVER?

How to start this. Almost topic overload. A jumble of news stories recently seemed to disclose some universal truth(s). Let's see if I can put my finger on it/them for you. This is a project I have had kicking around in background for sometime wondering if I were up to it. Let's see if recent events provide what I need.

First, there was the Brame case in Tacoma, Washington where Brame, the Chief of Police, may have been having an affair with a high-ranking female officer he championed and fatally shot his wife and himself. There were several other lesser incidents involving law enforcement in the area, for example, the Chief of Police in Sultan, Washington investigated for sexual harrassment, another police officer (in Port Townsend?) charged with domestic violence, and last night, June 2, 2003, I heard of the arrest of an Aberdeen police officer on domestic violence charges. An epidemic? Or, has the Brame case made some meddlers "trigger happy" especially since the Tacoma authorities seemed to have blown it and ignored some very tell-tale signs, or worse?

Then, there was the Annika Sorenstam (I refuse to check to see if I spelled her name(s) correctly) story. And, there was a personal interest piece on a woman from Washington State who was on some national TV program because of her work with inmates at the Clallam Bay Prison. There was also a story about another female high ranking employee at the prison who made some comments about something at the prison that supposedly upset a third woman, the warden there.

Do you see where this is going? Do you see where we are going? Is there "a fly in the ointment?" Has some delicate balance been tipped? Can you extrapolate?

There was also a cartoon I observed in which a bunch of little girls were out on the playground with golf clubs while one teacher explained to the other, "Recess has never been the same since Annika." (Close anyway). Is this what we need?

What we need is a dose of H.L. Mencken wisdom. It was he who said that women who participate in sports should be sent to the "white-slave corrals of the Argentine." It has bothered me why he wanted to pick on the Argentine, and I haven't been able to figure that one out, but I believe his conclusion was a correct one. Perhaps anywhere far away will do. Mencken also said something like, "Any man guilty of golf should never be President." I believe these words can be found in the essay "Adventures of a YMCA lad." (Close to the title, anyway. I learned early that "close" only counts in horseshoes and grenades, but close will do for my purposes here. I can only hope to get close to the underlying Universal Truths I seek, so why get too exact).

I threw in the part about golf and the Presidency to deflect the argument that Mencken was a misanthrope. He probably would have had good reason seeing that he had done time at the Algonquin Round Table, but he wasn't. His wife, whom he dearly loved, died early. He was a dedicated family man who doted on his niece. No, he just called them as he saw them, and he saw them very well. He could extrapolate and see what girls' sports implied for the future happiness of his niece. That's what I believe, and Mencken figured it all out even before anyone had heard of government mandated and funded sports for females. What would he now have to say?

Now, why would sports for females be detrimental to society? How can I show the connection between female jocks and the untoward things I started with above? Do I have to? Can't you just sense it? Someone recently observed that women's bodies, perhaps only of those shown in Playboy magazine, were less "full-figured" than when the magazine first started, apparently now representing the ideal less hippy, etc. boyish-girl nextdoor. That's progress? How this dove-tails with the complaint of more obesity out there escapes me. Just be advised that I had no problem with the old model and things were pretty good before the government decided to get involved in fitness and other aspects of our lives. And, that is kind of where this is going - - - toward The Law of Unintended Consequences. Unintended if we are lucky, but I have my suspicions otherwise. Still, this law is instructive. Going back to the problems that law enforcement types are having as reported above, what would you predict would happen when government got more involved in marital situations or how many drugs to give Granny in her last days? They intended to make it better, or so they said. Remember the Volstad Act? Remember that Road to Hell? What did the WiseMan say? "Let it be," perhaps?

I assert that we are in the grip of The Big Nasty, and things are only going to get worse until we go back to our basic principles. What we are doing is costing too much, wearing us out trying to correct, and destroying the lives of many who get caught in the middle which didn't use to exist. Allow me to take a sidetrip here. Care to get on an airliner with me? Assume away the problem of less cabin air and more carbon dioxide while up there now, and assume away the threat of terrorism. Don't even consider the argument that passengers have less leg room than 10, 20, 30 or 40 years ago. Ignore the change in rules that now prohibits smoking. Did air travel get nastier? I will assert that it did. I will now give you my reasons why I think so.

My first experience with air travel came in 1963 on a Western Airline's flight from Seattle, Washington to San Jose, California and back. It was fun. My last trip was sometime before 1990. I refuse to fly now. There were stewardesses when I started. Young ladies who would fly for a few years and then go in other directions. They were forced to if they married. My sister was a stew for United Airlines for about three years in the 1960s. She married in 1968 and had to quit. I think two or three years was about the average. A class action lawsuit was brought to force an end to the termination of married women (Or, was it a class action suit by those who were forced to quit before the rules were changed? I don't care, do you? Perhaps both). Over the years, I noticed the women getting older who attended the flying public. They had less interest in doing the job, it seemed to me. Then males started wanting to be "flight attendants." My last flights were not fun. But, I wonder what it is like for the attendants themselves. What have they done to themselves and the others who have or will take those jobs? What lessons here can we use to explain the situation with law enforcement? Not yet.

I dated a Western Airline's stewardess in the early 1970s. Maybe she was a flight attendant. I don't know. I did not meet her while flying. I do know that at the time, she wanted to make it a career. It was after they were allowed to be married and continue flying. We did not last long, and I married a nurse. Turned out that her career was too important to her also. We lasted a bit longer. What has careers for women done? A better question is what has the idea of "professions" done to men and women? I was a "professional" for a while. Perhaps my problem was I could see the damage it was doing, and I bailed. Most cannot. They are trapped, and they turn mean. That's why The Big Nasty. Before I try to make the connection with law enforcement melt-down, let me describe nursing. Years ago, nursing was like the early days of (can I say?) stewing. (Yes, I can and did). Entry was easier and the focus was on patient care not on the career. Hospitals trained their own nurses. It was an opportunity for young women before marriage. Same as the airline jobs. Then something happened and males wanted to be nurses.

Having rules excluding married women or making entry easy as possible provided more opportunities for young girls to survive and even save for marriage while waiting for some slow guy to wake up and get with the program. I assert it was a benefit to women, to men, and to society.

Have you heard of "lateral entry?" No, it is not a new position for sexual intercourse. I see it in advertisements for police officers by agencies looking to hire away talent that has already been trained from another agency. Wouldn't "experienced" suffice? How many police forces give initial or beginning training to police officers? Did they used to? How often do you see or hear the words "professional" or "professionalism" in the mention of police actions or activity? Then something happened and the females wanted to be cops. The emphasis is now on the career of police officer not on serving the public. Protecting the turf. It takes a meaner brand of cop, nurse, or stew, etc.. I don't mean to single these jobs out, it applies to teachers, preachers, and everything.

Now, how do I finish this and leave us with something worth the effort expended so far? What were the women who had short "careers" and walked away from the job for the benefit of their families? Chopped Liver? That's what must be the underlying assumption if long "careers" are so important. Do you believe that, really? Now we must find more work for police because we need slots for females on the force too. And, we have to keep the prisons chock-full so that females can have prison jobs. Did sports for girls have something to do with this? Are there some things we should say are for boys but not girls and other things for girls and not boys? We used to, and we were healthy. Many of the men in prison would not be there if there were more women who made them their career instead of something in the "workplace." It takes a good woman to make a good man, but are they just not available or what? They are not there for support. They are there to compete. (It appears that Brame may have had a good wife at home, so why did he choose the one he may have had to compete with? Why did he create her? Did he realize his mistake and couldn't stand losing his wife who was in the process of divorcing him? Or, was he just screwed up, and we are wasting our time on analysis? Are there just some things we shouldn't try to figure)?

What about the young man who tried police work but decided on some other course? Is it as easy to depart these days when it is much more difficult to secure such a position in the first place, and when you do, there are so many more perks and much more power. Ease of entry is important. Ease of leaving could be even more valuable. With many exiting, it is easier to get a glance into the operation. In some cases, there are none around to shine the light of day on what is going on inside. Anyone who might be so bold risks his "career" which now is a major potential loss and from which it is not as easy to walk away. They are trapped. What does any animal do when trapped? Do they lash out? As humans, we do that, and we make excuses. We look for and create more problems to justify the extent of our "professionalism" and arcane training. Those who remain become "inbred" and fearful of outsiders. I think it is even fair to say "paranoid." They hide behind "professionalism" and as much secrecy as they can. But, there is a toll.

In law enforcement, they hide behind thick plexiglas, don bullet proof vests and don't know whom to fear. Law enforcement has thrived and horded power because of the growth of two things, violence, especially domestic violence, and drugs. But, the sword is two-edged, and now some are paying the price for helping to grow these things. That's the way it has always been.

Will always be.

I'll always like liver even if it is chopped. The hell with the new model. The hell with "professionals." Work is highly over-rated. Do the job and go home. Go home and play. Otherwise, it will back up over you.

Afterthoughts: I knew that this was going to be a tough nut to crack, and I am not pleased with what I have done. I will leave it alone for now, but it should be reworked. For sometime the Seattle Police Department has been short officers. Think about that. Is what I recently heard true about the U.S. Military allowing early release for those qualified to be police officers if they will take those jobs in Seattle (and elsewhere)? In the June 13, 2003 Peninsula Daily News there was a piece about the deteriorating conditions in lavatories aboard airliners. Just another coincidence? What about hospitals, if you can afford them?

Copyright © 2003, Donald L. Beeman. All rights reserved.

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