So 'Cops' made me cry last night. It all started with an innocent traffic stop for stolen tags. The male driver was of the usual ilk of perp on the show, but he was accompanied on this fateful drive by his approximately 8 or 9 year old daughter, Sally. Sally had long, shiny bangs that got in her eyes and, at some point one of the arresting officers realized that there was a very upset little girl still sitting in the passenger seat of this potentially stolen vehicle. One of the officers went up to talk to her and try to calm her down, and that's when I sort of lost it. She alternately sat with her head in her hands, weeping and leaning out the window looking back into the glare of the cruiser's headlights for her dad. Her dad was now handcuffed and seated in the back seat of that cruiser, telling another officer that if no one answered the phone at the first number he gave them, he'd give them 10 more so that someone familiar could come and pick up his daughter. You could see he was genuine, despite being a car thief or whatever. Officer #1 pulled a teddy bear out of his treunk and explained to the camera that some organizations give crops of stuffed toys to the police department for instances just like this. Sally took the bear and used it to wipe her tears and snot. She asked to say goodbye to her dad, since it was clear by now that he wasn't coming home with her right then and there. She hugged him about 8 times, kissed him on the cheek and forehead and lips and told him she loved him, over and over. I wished they'd called me to drive out and pick up Sally, then I could take her for ice cream and tell her that her dad loved her no matter, and that she could forgive him for what the law could not. They didn't, of course. Sally left with some anonymous friend of her dad's who I hope was kind and patient. The officers thought her dad would probably be home some time the next day. I guess there's a point to all this. And that is that no matter who you are, no matter if you are a fuck-up and have a double-expired license, no matter what you look like and how much money you make, there's probably someone out there who loves you pretty close to unconditionally. And I thought that was a pretty nice thought to have bc commentary #2 is not quite so fuzzywuzzy.