I had several interactions with police in Massachusetts. They were, across a range of towns and locations, and across a variety of fault ... my fault, my daughter's fault, someone else's fault ... invariably polite and professional and reasonable. I have zero complaints.

And, in retrospect, I have no doubt that my experiences would not have been as positive if my skin color had been different.

None that I recall since arriving in Oklahoma, although Mary Anna had one when I wasn't here. She can file her own report.

I'm trying to think of the last time I had a police experience, and I'm coming up blank. I must be a goody two shoes. The one thing that keeps popping up is when I was stopped while shopping in one of Phoenix's fancy department stores, and accused of shoplifting.

It was about 8:30 at night, and I was shopping for post-pregnancy clothes. I was exhausted, hormonal, and anxious to get home (I think my baby was about 3-4 weeks old at the time). When I buy "good" work clothes, I often ask if I can have the hangers and most will happily give them to me. So I was wandering around with an open shopping bag with a few items in it, and hangers on top. I then went to the cashier with some items in another section, and I suggested she just put the items in the bag I already had. She seemed startled to see the hangers, I guess. Anyway, we completed the transaction and I headed towards the door to leave. I was stopped by an armed county sheriff (not a mall cop), who said "someone" had seen me shoplifting. He demanded to go through my bag, which of course I gave him. I had all the receipts, I knew I hadn't shoplifted, but he was pretty forceful and I kept looking at his gun and worrying that I might do something stupid that would cause him to aim it at me. And I knew I was innocent, and had never had anything like this happen to me ever before. After about 3-4 minutes of looking through my bag, he harrumphed that I was free to go and I left. The sales person who had presumably called the sheriff turned on her heel and walked back to wherever she slithered from, no apologies, no nothing.

I went out to the car, took a few deep breaths, and went home. I wasn't angry, I was freaked out. I never shopped there again.