I work hard as an in-home nurse and once a year I treat myself to a vacation abroad. Visiting a foreign country as a single woman might be intimidating if it weren't for something I learned over 25 years ago. In those days I couldn't afford much, but every now and then I gtried to do something adverturous. Once, I decided to splurge on a concert in Philadelphia. Part of my night on the town would be taking a taxi the 60 miles there from my home in Atlantic City, which I figured was safer at night than a bus.
On my way back from the concert, the taxi broke down on the highway just outside Philadelphia. The driver climbed out and began pushing the cab to the side of the road. I was getting more upset by the second. Please, Lord, send help, I prayed.
Just then a police car drove up. The policeman came over to my window.
"Anything I can do, ma'am?" he said.
I explained my predicament, and he returned to his car to make some calls. When he came back, he said, "I think I can get you to Atlantic City. Just come with me." I got into his patrol car, expecting him to drive me to the Philadelphia bus station. But instead, when we stopped, it was to meet another police car. "This is as far as I can go," the man said. "But this officer will give you a lift from here."
When the second officer came to the edge of his precinct, we stopped again. "I called ahead for someone else," he explained. Not a minute later, the next car pulled up. My driver opened the door for me to get out and the next officer introduced himself and helped me into his car.
That scene repeated itself six or seven times. Police officers escorted me all the way to Atlantic City!
When we got inside the city limits, I said to my driver, "You don't need to go any farther, I can get a bus or jitney from here."
"Nonsense," the man said, smiling. One final car drove up and that last officer took me right to my door. As a black woman, it didn't escape my notice that all those officers ~ who went above and beyond the call of duty to get me home safely ~ were white. They gave me something I've taken with me no matter how far from home I roam: the confidence that God has recruits of every race and nationality, and I can never journey beyong His precinct.
