I have another senario that I am curious how people will think.
What about stopping an ER doctor for DUI who works at the hospital where they would take you if you got shot or soemthing?
Give him a break or arrest him knowing that he may be in the position to operate on you?
This has not happened to me but I could see it happening. I did get a nurse once though.
How about the teacher who might have your child in his class next year?
How about the gynecologist who you will never see professionally but who plays golf every other Saturday with that ER Surgeon you mentioned?
"So, how's your practice going these days? Any interesting cases?"
"Oh, I've hardly had time to be in the office. I'm up to my eyeballs in legal problems."
"What? What happened? Major malpractice suit?"
"No. I was arrested! Can you believe that?"
"What?"
"That jerk, Officer Eyeeatingfish, he is just full of himself. I told him that I was a doctor and that it was my professional medical diagnosis that I was not drunk and yet he arrested me, and had my car towed too!"
"The new Mercedes?"
"Yes, and they scratched it too."
"His name is Eyeeatingfish?"
"Yup."
"I hope he never shows up in my ER. We might go just a few units shy on the morphine."
No, you can't take a chance with ANY doctor at all. They talk.
And what about rich people? They talk too.
Scene opens in the steam room at an upscale country club...
"Thurston, we missed you at the dance last night..."
"Oh, Milton, you'll never believe what happened. I was driving my brand new Mercedes, don't quite have the feel for it yet you know. And I mean really, you know how it is, it takes a week or two to get the feel of a new car and then the new car smell wears of in a month and you have to get a new one. Why can't they make a longer lasting smell? Anyway, this horrible little officer, I think his name was, get this, Eyeeatingfish, pulled me over and arrested me. He thought I was drunk."
"Eyeeatingfish? Ha, ha, ha... his mortgage refi application is on my desk right now.... and in my trash can tomorrow I assure you! I'll e-mail you a copy of his credit report and balance sheets, you'll get a laugh out of it."
How about the plumber who might come to your house at 2:00AM in just a few months when that pipe freezes and bursts?
How about the engineer who might design some of the equipment that your life might someday depend on?
How about the moderator at bladeforums.com who could ban you?
How about ... how about... how about...
No. This is one of those things that you've just got to stop before it starts.
Why do police wear uniforms? Well, there are several reasons, but one of them is the same reason why priests and pastors in many churches wear cassocks, the robes which cover the person's entire body. Years ago, during the Gulf War, I lived in Cedar Rapids, Iowa where the police chief got into some hot water with the media when he disciplined several officers who wore on their uniforms lapel pins which were suddenly popular at the time which had an American flag and the words, "Support our troops," below it. Such pins were very discrete, very professional, so why the problem? Because officers are not supposed to express individualism on their uniforms. The very word "uniform" means... well... uniform, all the same. What if a bar owner called police because two of his customers were in a fist fight over whether or not the US should have engaged in the Gulf War? How will the pugilists react if the officer is wearing that pin, if the officer has already declared a bias in the matter? When someone calls 911 and asks for a police officer, it shouldn't matter who responds, whether Officer Shawn O'Brian, Officer Yee Chang, or Officer Esmeralda Ramírez, the outcome will be the same because it doesn't matter who the officer is but that he is an officer. When an officer arrests someone, it is not Mr. Shawn O'Brian or Mr. Yee Chang or Mrs. Esmeralda Ramírez who makes the arrest, but a sworn police officer. The arrest is not by the authority of Mr. Shawn O'Brian, but by the authority of Officer Shawn O'Brian's office.
(I know, I know, it's a nice theory, but it doesn't always hold the practice. It is, however, the underlying theory and, therefore, what we turn to to answer this sort of question.)
The point here is this: Don't personalize your work. Remember, you are wearing a uniform that covers you. You are not acting as yourself but in the capacity of your office.
Treat every person the same.
