right when you thought all cops were jerks

Walking home tonight from Capitol Hill, I stumbled upon a handful of cops pulling cars over about a block from my house. Now cops in this area aren't a common site, unless they are cruising H Street, which seems to be the dividing line between the nicer area and the, well, less nice area (my neighborhood). South of H Street is newly paved roads, renovated row houses, playgrounds. H Street is run-down strip malls and liquor stores and on the way to my lovely abode is a somewhat shadier scene that posh Capitol Hill.

Anyway, being the sharp reporter I am, I asked one of the cops what they were up to. He (kindly - rare for Metro cops) said they were doing safety checks to make sure people had driver's licenses, buckled seatbelts and insurance. Surely this neighborhood has bigger fish to fry, but I guess showing some kind of police presence counts, and perhaps they knew that.

So the officer was very nice, and he asked me what I thought of the neighborhood. I told him my assessment of the H Street division, and how when I first moved here I was nervous. But less and less do I feel like a total outsider. Save for the occasional incidents that make me want to crawl into a hole, apologizing profusely on the way down for being white, I am beginning to feel more a part of this neighborhood. I am less afraid of walking home from the bust stop at night. I see the same women standing with me at the corner in the morning, the same young men wheeling around on Schwinn 10-speeds or hanging out on the corner in their white T-shirts. The same group of old men is always sitting in fold out chairs and on steps near H Street. And the same woman - thought mean as fire - is walking her tiny puppy each morning.

I just make a point of looking people in the eye and saying hello, and I feel like once the shady folks see that I am unfazed by them and that I live here too, the tension is diffused. And almost every time they are kind back to me.

After chatting with the cop for a few minutes, I thanked him and told him I appreciated seeing them out on the streets. In a city like DC, it shouldn't be so rare.

In other news, I went to a Congressman's home for some Northwestern dinner party thing (free food) and the highlight - besides the gorgeous home with original floors and window shutters that folded into the wall - was him running out before the party was over. After answering the phone, he came lumbering down the stairs, suit jacket in hand, sweat dripping from his forehead. He said he had to run out for a vote. And he was gone. Now that's exciting - democracy in action, folks.