I teased a young policeman yesterday

and I am still here to tell you that. 
I saw the patrol car arrive in our local shopping centre as I was getting milk for the weekend. It was not hard to guess why they were there. There was no urgency about their visit at all. 
The two of them needed a quick break. I suspect such things are allowed under their work rules.
As I was leaving one of them, coming in the opposite direction and carrying a coffee cup, gave me a brief smile. I smiled back and asked, 
          "The essential caffeine fix?"
His smile turned to a grin and we both went on our way.
I pedalled home wondering if I could have done that everywhere in the world. The answer is "no" of course.
I usually do get an acknowledgment from the officers in the patrol car as they wait to pounce on people who do not obey the stop sign at the level crossing. It is a favourite place for them to sit in the mornings. 
When an elderly couple lived nearby their policeman son once pulled over in the patrol car and called out to me, "Hey Cat, have you seen Mum?"
There were a few startled looks around me that time. 
They have moved their radar gear out of the way so I can pedal through with a cheerful, "Look out, tricycle coming through" to their mates further down the road waiting for someone to break the speed limit. I have also been told, "No speeding now."
In London a friend was out late one night pushing the pram up and down trying to quieten a screaming teething son. A patrol car pulled up and, rightly, wanted to know what was going on. When the explanation was made they put the pram in the boot and took both father and baby in the car for "a bit of a ride". When the motion of the car had sent the child asleep they returned them to the hall of residence we were all living in.  The father, a US citizen, could not get over "city cops" doing that.
I doubt I would have been prepared to say anything like I said yesterday to a policeman in the US.  Most of them are probably nice people but they are different. I certainly would not say anything in jest to the police in many other places.
But yesterday it was good to know that the young policeman had still not had become so hardened by all the negative things they see and do that he could still enjoy a quick exchange with a stranger.