The daughter asked me about some police show she learned about. I didn’t bother to look into it all that much. All shows cannot come close to reality. I teach her the real stuff. Depending on how one counts, I breathed and lived it for either 10 or 17 years. Just for knowledge sake, the shows do not reflect the drudgery, incompetence, foolishness, and other assorted issues involved in the work. Still fun to watch but with a grain of salt. 

However, the show that is likely the most realistic is The Wire, set in Baltimore, which is crime ridden. Philadelphia, where I served as a DA, is similar. The show captures the intricate and complex nature of the drug trade and its relationship with other factors such as politics, economics, society, and even schools. Each season has a theme. The first is an introduction to the drug trade, the second how ports are involved, the third tying up the first’s arc, the fourth how kids are impacted, and the fifth on the role of media. The fourth season which is set in schools is arguably the best of them all. 

Sometimes, I ask others to guess who my favorite character in the series is. Invariably, they wil choose one of the law enforcement ones. But it isn’t. Instead, it is a character named Stringer Bell, who is the second-in-command of the major drug gang in the city. He is intelligent and driven. That’s not why I identify with him. He actually does not want to be in the drug trade, he wants to be legitimate. He fails. He’s too much of a gangster to be a businessman but too much of a businessman to be a gangster. When he supervises his underlings, he tries with mixed results to make them more professional as drug dealers. When he tries to enter the construction industry, he cannot fully grasp the nuances and politics behind it.  He doesn’t fit,  Something I can also identify with.

Ultimately, he gets gunned down by not one but two assassins who want to kill him for separate reasons. When he is cornered and facing his death, he initially tries to bargain for his life. When he realizes that is futile, he resigns himself to his fate and even commands the assassins to get on with it. 

When the police search his apartment after his death, they find his books on business management, economics, and other fields usually not associated with a major drug dealer. One officer, stunned and surprised, marvels at the hidden side of his adversary and says they had no idea who they were dealing with. 

I told you that I had a collection of special books. These were wisdom and strategy texts from different eras, cultures, and disciplines. Unlike what others may believe, I wasn’t interested in these as a defense mechanism. I genuinely loved studying them, not only for their ability to make me a better advisor and leader, but because it was pure joy to learn. 

I really don’t think anyone has entered into my world. A few have inklings of who I really am inside but the opportunity to show it all was rarely to never present. Way too many assumptions or conclusions. 

Sometimes, people tell me it’s good to be underestimated. While I understand that somewhat, it has been tiring. I’m not sure how many of those books I want to hold onto. They were for my kids in the long run. The knowledge therein has somewhat been imprinted. I was also fortunate to have the opportunity to live many of the lessons out in real life. Many had no idea who they were dealing with. 

But I will tell you.  Because you know.