I was paying for a cup of coffee when a police officer flashed his badge and cut in front of me for cigarettes. What happened next, though, left me speechless.

I was reminded this week how local police have an extremely stressful and difficult job that many of us usually don't even think about.

As the officer flashed his badge and cut in front of me I was a little taken aback.

Police get hassled for all sorts of things like talking on their cellphones while driving, not following traffic laws, parking wherever they want and getting special treatment in stores and restaurants.

Immediately, most of us assume the officers are taking advantage of their position by chatting away with a friend while driving or speeding ahead  just to get to lunch on time. While that may be the case sometimes, it's probably more likely that the police are doing something really important that we'll never even hear about.

This was made crystal clear to me while standing in line for that coffee early Wednesday morning.

As the officer flashed his badge and cut in front of me I was a little taken aback. But when he asked the clerk for a pack of Marlboro Lights, that's when I started to feel taken advantage of. "What arrogance," I thought. "The nerve of this guy cutting me just to get a pack of smokes."

Mario Tama/Getty Images
Mario Tama/Getty Images
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His situation was so much more important than me getting to work a few seconds late.

I was startled when the officer quietly turned to me and apologized. He explained that the cigarettes weren't for him, but for a suicidal man who law enforcement experts were negotiating with down the street. Later on I learned that the man was holding a gun to his head in the parking lot of Mid-Hudson Regional Hospital. Negotiations lasted over two hours as the distressed man threatened to use the gun to shoot himself.

The officers were able to save this 40-year-old's life by calmly talking with him, getting those cigarettes and ultimately finding him the help he so desperately needed.

I can't help but keep thinking about that policeman who quietly cut in front of me in line and how he handled the stress of that tense situation. His situation was so much more important than me getting to work a few seconds late. I'll certainly never judge the actions of police the same way again, because I learned you never really know what those law enforcement officers are doing behind the scenes to help save the lives of people right here in the Hudson Valley every day.

 

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