The Victoria Napolitano Bookstore Pretty, Powerful & Polite written by Victoria | Seite 2

VICTORIA napolitano I pulled out my make-up case and commenced put- ting on my lipstick. I took a quick look in the tiny mirror on the inside of my Victoria Secret compact. Chaplin Morris laughed out loud. “Victoria,” he exclaimed. “What are you doing put- ting on lipstick? This is a domestic call not a mod- eling opportunity.” Telling him to pipe down and look professional. I closed the trunk and started toward the house. Look- ing over my shoulder I smiled and said, “You always have to look good.” As I walked into the house the arguing stopped im- mediately. Smiling to diffuse the tension, I asked what was go- ing on here. After a moment of silence and confused looks at each other. They all started talking at once. “Hold it,” I said. “I can only listen to one person at a time. Now let’s see if we can do that again, okay?” T h e Three P’s for the Professional Woman and Man As a San Jose Police Patrol officer, I was assigned a ride along A ride along simply means someone would spend a shift in my car observing everything I dealt with on that day. My ride along for the day hap- pened to be the San Jose Police Department Chaplin. A call came in to check out a low priority disturbance call. As we drove over the Chaplin Richard Morris and I discussed what the disturbance might be about. Arriving on scene, I walked to the back of my pa- trol car followed by my “shadow for a day” Chaplain Morris. 2 The good news is, I calmed everyone down and it turned out to be a typical misunderstanding. On the way back to the patrol car the Chaplin said, “you know everyone was staring at you.” I just smiled and laughed. I could have been sarcastic and made a crack about my gun and badge, but I de- cided to let it go. To this day, the Chaplin remembers that incident and he tells everyone else who will listen. I may not be a patrol officer, but I do choose to work and live by my three P’s. I do it because it works every time: Victoria Napolitano VNSN.TV