"Well Bo, maybe they are going to go catch some bad guys."

"But, but... but... we don't have bad guys in our city, only where Spiderman lives."

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Oh boy.

So, do I leave this one alone or do I tell him the truth? The truth about all the crime and violence in the world. The truth about natural disasters like the one in Haiti this week. The truth about drugs and how someone almost blew up an airplane on Christmas day.

Or will he learn about these things on his own? Do we shield our children so that they are completely ignorant of what's going on around us? Do we just focus on the good things and wait until they are older to have conversations about crime?

How do I speak preschool talk about the real life "bad guys?"

When do I break it to him that the world is not as innocent as it seems?

It's funny though, for as many television shows as he watches (Swat Cats, Transformers, Ben 10, Batman... all the ones with the superheros in them...) one would think that he'd believe there were bad guys in our town too.

It seems like every show on tv has a "bad guy." Heck, even the show, Phineas and Ferb, has a "bad guy" in it, Heinz Doofenshmirtz.

Perhaps I should mention to Bo that policemen are there to help people too, not just to chase around bad guys.

ALTHOUGH... I almost forgot to tell you guys something!

A few weeks ago when the temperatures were below zero, remember like negative 15 or something like that? Luke called me from his cell phone and told me he ran out of gas a few miles from our house. It was around 11 p.m. and he told me he was just gonna walk home and get my car to go get gas. Well, on his walk home down a road with no street lights two police cars drove right past him.

TWO. Yes, two police cars drove right past my husband walking on the side of the road in subzero temperatures at 11 at night... in SUBURBIA.

Now, what in the hell was wrong with those cops that they couldn't pull over and see what in the world Luke was doing at that time of night walking in freaking freezing weather?

(I couldn't help him because Bo was in bed and I couldn't leave the house.)

I dunno, but it seems to me like these days policemen aren't as "friendly" as they once were.

Yeah, they serve and protect, but do they do anything kind or go out of their way anymore to actually help people?

Maybe there's just been too many crazy people out there that abuse nice people pulling over (like the woman who got raped after she tried to help some guy stuck in the snow a few weeks back) so when someone who actually needs help doesn't get it. They will not get it because they will get looked at as someone risky who may be hiding a gun or something... 

As a kid I remember being taught to trust policemen. I had this image in my mind that policemen would come to the rescue if your dog or cat got stuck in a tree. (Maybe I got them confused with firemen.)

But everytime I've ever walked by a policeman lately they look at me with suspicion like I just killed someone, or they eye-ball me like I'm carrying a pound of pot in my purse.

Of course I just smile, and they smile back.

I still trust policemen... but I'm really ticked off that they didn't help my husband that night.

Anyways, back to the "bad guy" thing, has anyone ever had to explain crime to their 4-year-old? Has your young child witnessed an actual real-life crime?

Anyone had any good or bad encounters with policemen? I once convinced one to handcuff me on my 21st birthday so that I could take a pic and show it to my friends and act like I was in trouble.

Heh. 

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"We have bad guys in our city too, but mommy and daddy protect you from them and so do policemen. Sometimes people do bad things. But you're a good guy right? A hero, like Spiderman."

"Let's play Venom and aliens when we get home, mom. I'll be the bad guy and you be the alien. We can battle."

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Sigh.

Just then this song comes on:

God is great, beer is good... and people are crazy.