Policeman and Professor Didn't Invent the Art of Stepping on Toes

When I saw "Rounding Third" last Saturday at the Open Space Cafe Theatre, I didn't realize that I would have the opportunity to witness a preview of the conversation between a police officer and a professor (with a president and a vice president on the sidelines).

"Rounding Third," a play about two little-league baseball coaches who have very different views about what should matter most for their players (winning vs. having fun), does not mention race at all, and I don't recall any law enforcement issues leaping off the stage.

But throughout the play, the two characters stepped on each other's toes by saying and doing things that were unintentionally but effectively hurtful or offensive to one another. (Fortunately for audience members, the characters' words and actions provoked not only deep thinking but also strong laughter.)

Race is cited as a topic that has the potential to bring out the worst from our human natures, but we don't require the presence of racial issues for us to manage to hurt and offend one another on still very significant levels. Without race, we still manage quite well to figure out other ways to be jerks toward one another, whether we mean to be or not. (It's arguably an American tragedy how many of us have no conscience about intentionally trying to hurt and offend others around us.) And almost without fail, at the same time that we step on other people's shoes without realizing that we're doing so, we have a sixth sense for immediately being able to perceive when other people are stepping on our own shoes. We're infuriated at the people who step on our own shoes, but we more often than not regard ourselves as blameless and can't see our own natural abilities for doing the very same in reverse.

Maybe someone needs to create a play for us to watch about the conversations that take place between a police officer and a professor, and if it helps the cause, maybe their races can be a part of their conversations. Just remember though, that while race matters, it's not a prerequisite for humans to fail to communicate adequately and respectfully with one another. Ultimately, it's just as much a human thing as it is a race thing.