Oh, the People You'll Meet

As this semester is beginning to wind down, it's fun to think about all the people I've met thanks to this class and all the little snippets of life in Durham I've managed to catch and learn a lot about thanks to the process of writing these stories every week.  For example, for my story for this past week I interviewed the chief of police for Durham.  Before deciding to be a journalism major, I never hoped to talk to the chief of police as I am someone who likes to follow the rules... and the law.  Also, I always imagined the chief of police to be this intimidating and grouchy old man with a fat belly and a balding head.  However, the man I talked to for my article, Chief Dave Kurz, couldn't be any farther from this description.  He was really fun to talk to actually, and the way he explained things made it so I could understand what he was talking about.  For example, he compared the fiscal problems of the government and the police department's lack of funds for hiring a new police officer to the relatable decision of choosing which car to buy: he said if you're parents are trying to save money they're going to get you a Honda and not a Beemer.  In general, he was a very jokey, easy going guy.  So not only did I get to meet and talk to someone I never thought I would encounter previously, but also the experience completely broke my preconceived notions of what a police officer should be like or act like.