An interesting experience! 

I am south at the moment in Kent and took a walk through a housing estate to the local Lidl carrying a plastic bag for the shopping.

On my way I noticed a police car driving slowly by.

After shopping I noticed the police car driving past again. It stopped and one of the officers got out. A moment later I heard ‘excuse me sir.’

I turned and the officer was addressing me. ‘Nothing to worry about,’ he said and walked towards me.

 ‘Are you alright?’ he enquired

‘Yes, I’m fine.’

‘Can you tell me where you’ve been?’

‘Yes, to Lidl and the pharmacy,’ I replied.

‘Sorry to have bothered you, but we’ve had a report of a confused gentleman wandering around in the middle of the road. He was white haired and we thought you matched the description.’

The officer politely bid me farewell and returned to his patrol car.

Five minutes later, the same police car stopped near me again. This time the other officer spoke. ‘Can you tell me what we stopped you about a few minutes ago?’ he asked.

‘Your colleague told me they had had a report of a confused white haired gentleman wandering in the street.’

“Just wanted to be sure,’ he said and they drove off.

Much amused by being mistaken for a confused old gent I told Helen. Her response was not one of amusement. ‘I’m always telling you not to go out looking like that. No wonder they thought you were a confused old man. Look at that awful coat. You’re not wearing that again south. It was a good job you shaved this morning or they would have put you in the car and taken you to a care home!’

It was a good job, I thought, that I still have a few marbles and sound middle-class.

I cannot fault the officers who were considerate and polite, but it made me reflect on how some people are frequently stopped by the police because of how they look, and their experiences of the police are nothing like as benign as mine.