A shout out to NYPD

While vacationing in New York this last week, we had many opportunities to be in unfamiliar streets, looking for landmarks, addresses, or stores. In the 90+ degree heat, it was exhausting and most often frustrating. New York has this capacity for hiding things. As I would walk down the street from door to door, I would look for any marker to give me a clue as to what I was looking for but often to no avail. I traveled one block around and around and never did find the store. Often, you would see the window of the store and not the entrance which was deceptive. My first impulse is usually to ask store clerks. After the first day, where my husband asked about three store clerks where something was and got either treated rudely or just told that they didn't live there and had no experience with the area, we gave up that plan for the most part. However, in New York it is incredibly easy to find a police officer. Where I live, you rarely see a police officer outside of their cars, unless you are in the very small downtown area where they are on bicycles. You don't generally talk to them unless you have business with them. Since street officers were so readily available, my husband and I took to asking them if they knew where things were. We were never treated rudely. They always had a ready smile and open manner. Often, they talked to us and gave us an impression of whether or not they thought we were on the right track. For example, the officer by Trinity Church thought we were better off just walking around the World Trade center instead of taking a tour. He and I talked a bit even though he was taking a moment from making an accident report. In the end, I bought an NYPD shirt for my son...not only because it was cool. Mostly, I bought it because they had been our guardian angels for so much of our trip. So just a note of thanks to all the New York City Police Officers...you do your city proud and indeed your nation.