In the beginning of the movie version of American Sniper, a father is teaching his kids about the three types of people in life – wolves, sheep, and sheepdogs.  Possibly a bit simplistic – the line between wolf and sheepdog can be a tad blurry, probably not too many pure sheep out there.  But we can work with it.

One of the coolest parts of the NYPD was learning how it protected the largest city in the US.  I’d often say that the threats to the city were 360 degrees – air, land, sea, underground (this one is really problematic), hidden.  And as I sadly came to learn, internal.

Nonetheless, I respect and value the concept of the guardian.  It applies not only to professions it is traditionally associated with such as military and police, but others like teaching and public service.  I’m not the hypervigilant type (probably need to be more so), but there are genuine threats, not just the physical versions, but also mental and moral (and I’m not referring to some hardcore fundamentalist definition).