In late September my buddy Steve McAlpin took this picture of me and this pretty Irish Police Officer (called Garda in Irish) in downtown Dublin. There’s a lot of stuff going on in this picture. It’s more than a tourist pose. For one thing there is challenge. There are several if you stop and think. Life itself is a challenge. What is your take on the many challenges portrayed in this picture?
An old man with his arms around an unacquainted: pretty girl and police officer for starts. She was on duty, at that location to keep order in a large and raucous protest happening in that area. She and I both were being challenged. And how did we meet it?
My take on it is by supporting each other. Going beyond the accustomed way and finding a path that would get us there. There was humor and compassion involved as we each had to give some of our selves to the other to reach that point of happiness you see reflected in our faces.
Further, we each had on our person, signs of our identity. The Garda Officer had her badges and cap. I had my military service patch on my jacket. Both indicators not only of our identity, but of our areas of service.
Bottom line: We serve each other…