RDP Friday – Leadership

A few years ago I was taking some photos at a cemetery.

The cemetery was- as most are- open to the public. People go to cemeteries to mourn, to remember, to walk their dogs ( not all allow dogs ) to reconnect with the past.

To contemplate.

So as I was taking my pictures and people were around me doing what people do at cemeteries, a police car drove by and then he doubled back, pulled up to the curb got out and made a bee-line for my son and his father.

He asked them how it was going, where they were from and why were they visiting the cemetery that day?

My son was polite. He said his Mom was taking pictures for her blog and how are you today officer?

My son pointed to me and the officer started to raise his hand toward me and put it down. It was a small almost imperceptible gesture. I stood there with my camera in hand and watched this highly unusual situation ( where graveyards are concerned ) play out.

Nothing about my family stood out- unless you count the fact that my son and his father are Latino and not exactly what you would call little guys. But they were dressed like all the other midwestern suburbanites strolling around the cemetery and no they weren’t sitting on headstones or dancing on graves.

They were just not white guys in a place where everyone else was.

Leadership- when there is a lack of it people make things up as they go along- they are overly suspicious of the people and things they don’t understand.

Like the Officer was in the cemetery that day.

In dog I blindly trust, but I think I’m going to keep a sharp eye on the humans around me.