as i drove down the highway this evening, a police car with red and blue flashing lights whizzed by in the left lane. as it came upon unsuspecting cars, they quickly applied their right turn signal (because when confronted with a police car, people use turn signals) and moved aside at the earliest opportunity for the police car to pass. this situation is one of few in life where one person has unquestioned, ultimate authority. it made me think of other situations where this is true. i think someone with a gun has ultimate authority. when someone has a gun, everyone pretty much does what the gunmen wants. guns are objects just like any other objects. they are weapons just like any other weapons. if someone with a machete walks into a bank, you may be startled, maybe even a little confused. but i think few would freeze in terror. maybe it has dulled with continuous use, you may think. maybe it’s too heavy for him to wield or throw it with any real accuracy. but people unconditionally defer to a gun, always assuming that someone with a gun has both aim and bullets. the president i guess would have ultimate authority. the president, however, does not really go out that much. i don’t really know how i would act if i came across the president. with submission and deference, i would think. referees in professional sports have ultimate authority. it’s sometimes funny when gigantic, muscle-wielding enormousaurases that grapple and wrestle with each other to no end will stop at the sound of a whistle and helplessly scurry over to the nearest official to whine and plead for a favorable call. referees are small, nerdy, fat or thin, ugly, and yet they reduce these gargantuans to crying little crybabies who cry all the time and beg for forgiveness. also, the managers in the supermarket who have their framed picture on the wall have ultimate authority. supermarkets usually display photographs of managers past and present, so people can look at the evolution over the years, from men to women, from old to young, from glasses to contacts, from supermarket vest to hat to pin to no supermarket paraphernalia at all. whenever there’s a price discrepancy or problem with the register, the cashier summons the person with the key, usually by turning on the flashing checkout light. this person is the next higher up in the grocery store hierarchy, possessing the key on a neon-colored telephone cord bracelet that will override the cash register. when this is not enough, a person with a different colored vest is called on the checkout telephone. if this person cannot solve the problem, the supermarket manager with the framed picture on the wall is called. few people have actually been honored by the manager in person, but any squabble over price, sale, or validity of coupon is ultimately turned over to this manager who, like a police chief, arrives at crime scene to a briefing by the cashier before vending his expertise. the manager’s word is unquestioned by the customer. also, i think pilots have ultimate authority. when they put the seat belts sign on, you sure as hell better buckle your seat belt.
