During my ‘blog every day’ challenge in April I used a variety of prompts, including the alphabet. And B was a no-brainer because Boaty McBoatface was making the news and making my week.
In that earlier post I commented that – the idea itself and the support it garnered… via social media AND NERC and some of its staff) – gave me hope for humanity. We weren’t as precious or without humour as I’d worried we’d become. We could still take the piss out of ourselves and have a laugh.
Of course it should come as no surprise that the polar research ship isn’t going to be called Boaty McBoatface – which I still cannot say or type without smiling – despite the incredible support the name received. And the SSSS….RRRRR…SSSS Sir David Attenborough (or similar) is a worthy successor. To Boaty.
Of course, all is not lost in the case of Boaty McBoatface, because #this:
Boaty will live on. Literally ON SSRRSSS Sir David Attenborough.
I’ve been thinking about this as I’ve been watching police services around the world challenge each other in a dance-off of sorts.
NZ Police kicked things off and offered a Running Man challenge to other police services with this spectacular car park sequence….
And now it’s gone off and the New South Wales, Northern Territory, Scottish and Finnish police services as well as the Metropolitan (Met) police in London and NYPD seem to have gotten in on the act.
I was surprised though to see a couple of negative comments on a Facebook feed. About police needing to be more respectful and upstanding. Or something.
Seriously?
A police officer I know gets frustrated that – from a young age – we’re told the police are something to be feared. Sure, if you’re a serial rapist or drug dealer or pickpocket, that’s probably the case. But they’re also there to help and (believe it or not) they’re also human. So isn’t it nice to see the human face of policing every so often? A reminder it’s not all about excessive force or being seen as the fun police ruling over a nanny state.
The police service of my own State are renowned for their impressive social media presence. Their Facebook account manages to balance the serious and important with the hilariously funny.
I’m pretty sure we’ve WON the dance-off with the offering below. (And as for the dropped mic / CD reference at the end I should mention there’s a running joke about Nickelback and the band’s ‘music’.)
I have to admit some of the dance moves and videos are a tad naff, but they’re fun. Most importantly they’re humanising coppers AND possibly even building bridges and relationships around the world.
Do dancing police and the existence of Boaty McBoatface give you hope for humanity?
Where do you stand on police frivolity?
| PS. I’m guest-posting over at The Caffeinated Reviewer today and share THREE Aussie authors who may not be well-known to international audiences. |
May 9, 2016
I think it’s great the police are reaching out but I got off a train on Saturday and smiled at a group of coppers standing around the train station and they gave me a filthy look. Consistency methinks. They are there for the public’s safety but if you’re going to try to be attainable then be attainable.
May 10, 2016
I suspect it’s hard and like any profession there will be the occasional grumpy type of person. And of course you probably get some people go into a profession for what it offers (power in the case of the police service). I’ve worked with the police a few times (in child protection here, overseas in peace-keeping environments and most recently in my old life with a crime and misconduct commission). The coppers I met there were lovely and I spent some time with the (then) Commissioner and his deputies (including the now Commissioner). They were great and I suspect you don’t get to ‘that’ role without being a diplomat and decent person!
One of the things I worked on (in my old life) was a project around police misconduct and a lot of the initiatives we (my agency and QPS) had to work on came from top down.
May 9, 2016
I love the videos! That’s hilarious. I agree about the fearing the police mentality. There’s always going to be a few bad apples throwing their weight around (but there’s that in every profession) but for the most part every officer I’ve ever dealt with was trying to help.
I love that Boaty McBoatface will live on! That’s fantastic!
May 10, 2016
I was gobsmacked when finalising that post Katherine, so wee that so many other police services had joined in. NYPD, Finland, The Met and others. I think they have to ‘tag’ other services as part of the challenge!
They’re all posting them to their Facebook pages, so I suspect it’s also a good way of raising awareness of the existence of their FB presence!
May 10, 2016
Hi Deborah, Joining you from over at Michelle’s The Caffeinated Reviewer site.
Though alas not to be called Boaty MCBoatface I’m sure The RSS Sir David Attenborough will forever be known as this if only informally.
Great post, I’ve Loved my visit to your blog.
May 10, 2016
Thanks Tracy and thanks for stopping by!
May 10, 2016
I was so disappointed to see that they didn’t end up calling it Boaty McBoatface, but at least they’ve named it after David Attenborough, who really is a treasure. Are people really complaining about the police trying to have a bit of fun? Gosh, people really love to complain just for the sake of complaining don’t they. if anything, they should be complaining about the naff music and dance moves 😀 Although the Kiwis weren’t too bad at it.
May 10, 2016
Yay that Boaty lives on! I just loved that NERC – a scientific body – took the Boaty thing with such good humour. Of course it’s also help promote them and their work!
And there were only a couple of negative comments on the FB posts re the dancing police and other commenters were jumping on any negativity as well!
I should mention I’ve got that bloody song stuck in my head after watching a few clips. Couldn’t they have chosen something with a bit more rhythm?!
May 10, 2016
Nothing wrong with a bit of light-hearted, harmless fun. Especially when you work in serious professions like policing.
May 10, 2016
I completely agree Char!
May 10, 2016
There is nothing more endearing than seeing the multiple facets of an industry and the individuals behind it. The man and I saw a short news segment about Boaty McBoatface and I told him all about it. He looked at me like I was crazy, but I just laughed. (Does that confirm my crazyness?)
May 10, 2016
I read the Boaty McBoatface story (originally) when I was having a really really bad week (and day). I was lying in bed and saw the story and couldn’t help but laugh. I loved that some NERC employees were taking it in good grace saying they wouldn’t mind of their place of work was Boaty McBoatface. 🙂
May 10, 2016
Yes, love it – life is too short not to have some fun!
May 10, 2016
Agree!
May 10, 2016
Absolutely love it. It’s nice to see nations unite over something other than war or sport (which is just a civilized form of warfare anyway). #TeamIBOT
May 11, 2016
I agree Rebecca – the international camaraderie has been lovely to see!
May 10, 2016
I still haven’t watched any videos. They all come up in my FB feed at times when I should be doing other things. I love the idea though. It’s so awesome.
May 11, 2016
I watched the original one without realising they’d issued a ‘challenge’ – I just thought it was a fun video they’d uploaded so oly realised when others started appearing!
May 12, 2016
Police are people, same as every one else. I’m hoping most people saw it as what it was – a little lighthearted fun, a little bit of positive PR. There are just some people whose default reaction is to complain about everything. Surely no one actually believes that all police are arresting people all of the time? You know what it is like in a bureaucracy, Deb…
PS. Hubby has just bought a boat – I am attempting to convince him to name it Boaty McBoatface 🙂
May 12, 2016
Very true Jay. As I think I’ve mentioned to you, I worked closely with police in a number of different roles and the range of what policing involves can be quite surprising!
Oh and yes, I vote for Boaty!