On July 6 I was walking down Essex Street in Swampscott toward Salem. Not far from the Vinnin Square Stop & Shop, a man driving out of a driveway onto the street greeted me. He offered me a handful of protective masks.
I thanked the driver but suggested that he could give them to someone who needed them more. I was wearing a small dish towel that was the perfect size for a safety mask. I preferred it to the conventional masks because it could be washed and used over again.
The man insisted that I should take his masks rather than wear the “heavy cloth” I had on. I accepted the gracious offer and thanked the gentleman. I asked him if I had seen him someplace before.
He said he was Officer Dube and that he sees me walking all the time. I would never have known he was a policeman if he hadn’t told me. He was obviously off duty. He was, however, not off duty from being the considerate and caring human being he showed himself to be.
Minutes earlier I had seen a kid’s crayon picture taped on a house window reading “Black Lives Matter.” It displayed a drawing of a raised black fist. I guess that for some it’s never too early to teach their kids hostility. Some kid’s greeting for a passerby. Not the conventional smiley face icon or the house on a grassy hill with birds flying above in a sunny blue sky.
It will take more than hostile signs and loud massive marches to prejudice me into believing that our police are systemically bad and dangerous despite my personal observations to the contrary.
I still insist on taking people as I find them rather than be mindlessly prejudiced to incorporate the vilifying allegations of others. I remember one protest sign that read “you don’t have the right to be silent.” Well, if my letter gets published, I’m not being silent. I would rather voice my own observation than parrot someone else’s.
Hersh Goldman
Swampscott
Editor’s note: Jack Dube served on the Swampscott Police Department for more than 30 years before retiring. He is currently a special police officer.
