Igrew up in a police household. My dad was a federal cop for years, and we were transferred everywhere. I don't think I spent more than one year an any given high school for a few years in the 1980s.

But through it all I grew up with a healthy respect for law enforcement, an understanding of the goings-on in the various police departments and a pride in my father that a lot of rebellious teenagers didn't have. I probably became a journalist as a form of rebellion when my dad came home complaining about reporters, but I still respected him and the police.

After I started my career, subsequent dealings with various police departments at municipal, provincial and federal levels were always good as a result of this relationship and I'm happy to report that this has not changed since starting in Orangeville. I still recognize that the police have a tough job that can take them to extreme behaviours to get the job done.

So when I looked into the arrest of an Orangeville man last week who was found with $15,000 worth of cocaine and other drugs, as well as various weapons in his home, I was surprised on a couple of fronts. There was no forthcoming information from the Orangeville Police Service (in spite of our good relationship), and most of the evidence was found at the man's home.

The man was pulled over for what the police department called a routine traffic violation. How did this go from a man running a stop sign to a search and seizure at his home?

That's part of the investigation, I was told, and they cannot release it. Reporters are used to hearing that from various sources - police, fire departments, school boards - and it usually makes us wonder what's really going on. There may have been some evidence in the car that led the police to search the interior of the vehicle. But how did it get to his house?

I still don't know. But it makes me think that the police were probably watching him. They knew who he was and they were keeping an eye on him for the safety of the public. Who could argue with that?

Well, me, actually.

I heard a story from a co-worker about someone close to her who loaned her car to a friend who proceeded to drive as fast as possible one evening. The police got wind of it and continued to watch the car, which unfortunately by now was being driven by my friend's daughter. Even after she went into the police to tell them it wasn't her, they still kept an eye on her, stopping her on several occasions for no apparent reason other than to check her licence and registration, and at one point when she allegedly went through a stop sign.

Police eventually tried to charge her, but backed off. In this case they were watching an innocent woman. How many times does this happen and what can we do if it happens to us?

We're living in paranoid times for many reasons. The events of Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist activities close to home and the greater possibility of identity theft are all enough to make us want to stay home at all times, but we expect our police departments to conduct themselves with a level of professionalism and jurisprudence unmatched by any other public service. We want them to arrest the bad guys but we want them to do it according to the letter of the law. Not to be following us around needlessly.

If they had reason to go to this man's house they should have put our minds at ease and told us that, and not leave me with this sinking feeling in my stomach that my every move could be watched.

A lovely beginning We need to be more social.

I love how the Kinsmen Club got started.

Club founder Harold Allin Rogers, was turned down by another service club in 1920 because back then some clubs would only allow one person per employment category to join. If they already had a teacher, they wouldn't allow another teacher, and so on.

So ol' Harold decided to start his own club. He walked up to a man on this street in Hamilton that he recognized from his church but didn't know, and started a conversation. He told this other man that he was interested in starting a club for people his own age. The man said he didn't have many friends his own age (just after WWI and all) and so they two decided to get recruit other young men to form a club. That club today is called the Kinsmen Club of Canada.

I love this story because it's something that could never happen today.

We don't socialize anymore, at least not like previous generations did. Call any service club - Rotarians, Lions, Kinsmen - they'll all tell you membership is at an all-time low. Economics have dictated that households must have two incomes these days, and with all that time spent working, no one wants to take the time to attend meetings in the evenings. And who can blame them? We as a society work hard these days; who has time for friends?

So as a kind of solution, technology offers instant messaging, text messaging and e-mail to reach out to those you love, without all that hassle of actually meeting someone face to face. Why go through the headache of meeting when you can sit in your office chair and type messages to them all night?

We're still social animals who need interaction. These forms of communication only make us more lonely. It's not practical to say everyone should join a club, but put down the phone, close up the laptop and have dinner with someone you haven't see in awhile.

You'll get more out of a joke when someone is actually laughing than if you're reading LOL on a screen.