To Protect and Serve

These single stories and the lasting impressions they put on us really hinder our ability to open up or to want to associate with those that fall within the stories. For me it is easier to just stick to the assumptions than it is to go outside of my comfort zone to attempt to either dismiss or confirm them. I think one of the bigger single stories that are associated with being on a college campus is the stigma behind Greek life. There are so many stories around fraternity and sorority life that get scrutinized and bashed, but the mission and the people behind these organizations are passionate, motivated, and want to make a difference.  I have plenty of friends and classmates in Greek organizations and they don’t fall into this single story. My personal impression of the dangers of a single story has to do with a cop and this is a story that I think has become larger in society in the past weeks with all the police brutality seen in the news. Less and less people believe they are able to trust cops and that is becoming a problem.

About five years ago a friend of mine told me that his mom was dating a cop. There are always assumptions made when it comes to people of authority, but the assumption I made about this cop was because of what city he was a cop for.  In Akron there is a city called Fairlawn and there aren't many good stories associated with cops of this city. All my life I heard about how callous, devious, and relentless these cops were so I obviously felt like I couldn't trust this man. When I was around him I felt uneasy and I felt as if I had to watch what I said or how I acted. After I spent some time around him my assumptions were soon dispelled. I came to find that he was a very entertaining, adventurous and caring individual. I saw how he treated the kids and was interested in what we were doing. As I said earlier it would have been easier to just assume he was like all the cops that I hear about, but that would not have been fair. I am glad I got to know him and I think it is funny looking back at how I perceived him to be.