Over the years I've been privileged to know some fine folk at every level in law enforcement. I've helped a great lady with the Hyattsville PD coach a number of basketball teams. I've had the distinct honor of shooting and socializing with Agents including Bill Vanderpool and perhaps the greatest FBI and USMC vet ever, Col. Walter Walsh, now approaching (I think) 105 years old. Both are outstanding marksmen (Col. Walsh is not only a world class competitor but also one of the most feared "G-men" during the outlaw years when the FBI emerged as the nation's antidote to scoundrels like John Dillinger, Baby-face Nelson and the like.)
I've enjoyed lectures at the Academy and read numerous bits of published wisdom from the Bureau. The one that continues to resurface in my mind is the most simple: pay attention to the obvious.
That combined with a lesson learned in the U.S. Army - If you suspect something is about to happen that may endanger someone, let someone in authority know so folks aren't blindsided - are important bits of life lessons that are too often ignored.
The point embodied in both is that people tend to ignore what is in front of them often with dire consequences. The example I recall most vividly involved a high school student who showed up at graduation clad in a blood soaked tee-shirt. One "brilliant" teacher hustled the lad inside the building and told him to get into his gown as the ceremony was about to begin. Not a word was said about the bloody shirt. Turns out the graduate had just murdered a number of members of his family. Or, so the story goes.
A recent event at a local University involving a dear friend is a prime example of a situation that thus far had a far better result.
My friend is the assistant to the dean overseeing the process involved in getting advanced degrees. As appears to be the case with all too many graduate students, adherence to guidelines or rules for submitting papers upon which hopes to receive a masters or doctorate or anything above a bachelor's degree rest is not even an afterthought much less a priority.
An individual professing to be a layperson affiliated through religious fervor to a particular clerical order (I believe the term is "oblate") was more than mildly miffed that her submission was continually returned until the correct format was in place.
In front of witnesses, the individual stated that she intended to "stab" my friend. Hardly a response on the approved behavior chart for even quasi-religious types. A few days, actually weeks, passed. Finally, my friend was told that a complaint was filed and the disturbed individual was banned from campus and would be arrested should she violate that exile.
I was ecstatic. In the world of academia where reality often takes a back seat to impractical (and often downright stupid) politically correct social theory, someone had the guts to react in a way to eliminate a threat to a person's real life. The obvious was recognized. Authorities were put on the alert and direct, definitive action was taken.
Three cheers for Academia. Three cheers for common sense.
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