Monday, October 27, 2008

Police in the Wrong Place

Thursday night was interesting for both my roommate and I. I was home alone getting caught up on some emailing and stuff when someone knocked on my door. As I went to answer it I noticed police lights flashing out front our window. With this is mind I opened the door cautiously. Sure enough it was a policeman. He riped the door out of my hand and marched into the house shutting the door behind him. Now you have to remember, that I live in a Muslim community and this sort of behaviour is inappropriate. A man should never enter a single woman's house without another person present. He started by asking questions about how many of us lived in the house... and where my roommate was. When I mentioned she was out watching Uyghur dancing, he then proceeded to invite me to go dancing... or out for lunch or whatever. This is the same policeman who jokingly told me a few months ago he likes Canadian girls. I evaded all of his invitations and very politely shooed him out the door. But my heart was still pounding. The police car, the lights, his feeling entitled to just walk into my house, all of it was intimidating.

Meanwhile my roommate and her sister (who was here visiting last week) were walking home from the restaurant after watching the dance performance. Her sister had her camera in her hand and was taking shots of the city. As is common around here a thief saw the camera as an opportunity and boldly grabbed it right out of her hand. My roommate tried hitting the guy and yelling for help in Uyghur, but the thief and his buddy took off down a dark ally.

They needed a police officer to help catch the thief, but instead I was the one having to deal with an officer in my house. Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

karen! yikes! just getting caught up on your blog (can't spend all my time on facebook!), and wanted to pass on both my belated congrats on your new place and my extreme sympathy for this specific situation ... glad to read you're doing well. :o)

~ Amanda ~ said...

oh so sorry about the police and camera situation. thanks for stopping by my site though. :)

Deon J. said...

Definitely one of the hair raising tails that I remember you talking about. Authorities abusing their power is something I’m sure you’re always on the lookout for. And I am sure you couch the newbie’s what to look out for when they enter the field for the first time.