If you’re a follower of mine on Facebook, you no doubt have seen the posts about the bear baiting, donut Saturday mornings. I post about sharing a donut with a local law officer while on my way to work. We had some fun with the posts, but then the serious people got involved so we just let it go. I think it’s worthwhile to share the story behind the story.

There really is no story. It just sort of happened. I usually stop at Willow Bake Shoppe for some donuts on Saturdays on my way to work. They smell too good to let them just sit there on the way to Owls Head so as I was eating one one morning, I passed by Officer William Smith of the Rockland Police Department, and I waved to him. With the donut in my hand.

He immediately pulled out and followed me and pulled up next to me at the light with a grin and a thumbs-up, like I’d done something special.

Billy and I have known each other for quite some time so I could see how he thought I was poking him. Still, I felt kind of guilty so I messaged him and the next week we met to have a couple of donuts and just talk. It was kinda neat. So it became a regular Saturday ritual. I would pick up the donuts and then look for a cruiser along my route through Rockland. Some mornings there would be no sign and I would wonder what he was up to. I always figured he was busy helping someone out that was in need, but also hoping he was all right.

This got to be a pretty regular thing to the point that we had the same spot and the same time. We went back and forth on Facebook and most people seemed to get a kick out of it while some didn’t understand. Anyway, he’s in the public eye so we just let it stop happening. Right out of the blue (no pun intended), I’m driving through Rockland recently with donuts and there he is. It was like old times. Here’s the rest of the story and it has nothing to do with donuts.

Billy is a good guy doing a tough job. He’s a member of a good department. I like to talk with him because he always asks about me and my day. He cares about people. I can feel it when we talk. He deals with bad things every day. Sometimes it’s good people making bad decisions and other times it’s bad people just doing what they do. He has to sort that out. It’s a struggle. He sees things and knows things about people that others don’t and he has to balance all that in his personal life.

While we joke about it, it’s not about the donuts, it’s about the time. We get a few minutes to just chat. I think cops need that. People outside of family and law enforcement that are safe to just open up to. He never shares any confidential stuff or anything like that, but just some of the feelings about the job and the people. He knows that I’m not spreading that around, so it’s a good fit. Those few minutes when we can meet mean a lot to me. I have no idea what they mean to him.

Since I’ve been writing, I’ve found myself too often writing about people after they have passed away and wondering why I didn’t write about them while they were alive. We all do extraordinary things in our lives every day. Every single one of us, and most of the time they’re overlooked and never documented. Billy Smith is a good guy in a tough job. When he’s not working for the taxpayers of Rockland, he’s an active member of the Rockport Fire Department. This piece isn’t about Billy Smith as much as it is about the hundreds, if not thousands, of Billy Smiths across this country and around the world who do a tough job in a kind way.

I spent a lot of years in the fire service, worked closely with law officers, and known some that were pretty crude, some that were just doing a job and others that were making a difference. Pretty much like the rest of the population. Say what you want, but when you call 911 and need help, when someone shows up that is willing to put their life on the line for you, you should have a great deal of respect for that person. We all hope we’re never in that situation, but who knows?

So hopefully Billy and I will continue to meet and chat once in a while. Whenever the bad guys give him a break on a Saturday morning, we’ll catch up on what his family is doing, what’s going on with mine and how my business is going. He’ll vent a little about what frustrates him about the people he cares about. It’s not just about the Willow Bake Shoppe donuts.

Or is it?

Bill Packard lives in Union and is the founder of BPackard.com.  He is a speaker, author, small business coach and consultant. 

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