Why I love Oakland

This afternoon, I was riding my bike down Broadway on my way home. I passed Oakland Tech high school, and it must have been lunchtime because there were lots of kids milling around the school and at the fast food places across the street. As I got closer, I noticed a fire truck parked on Broadway in front of the school and a police cruiser on the paved area in front of the main entrance. There was a big crowd of kids on the front steps of the school, and I though "Uh oh, something bad just went down." But as I pulled past the front of the school, I realized what the commotion was all about. Next to the police cruiser was a bright red fire department sedan, and both cars were tricked out with hydraulics! The back end of the police car was jacked up with the trunk open, and I could have sworn I heard some trunk-rattling beats coming out of it. I wish I'd had a camera, because in a city with a horrible relationship between the police and its poorest residents, this was one of the coolest public relations displays I'd seen or heard about. There probably aren't many other places that would do that to a police car and take it to a high school. Just one more reason to love this city!