Lessons Learned

ELLIOT:

Today my daughter Kathleen woke me with a complaint. She was embarrassed that fellow students had seen her picking up garbage as her DUI sentence requires. And they could tell she wasn't simply doing good deeds: she had worn the identifying vest of the convicted community servant. Kathleen, wailing, begged me to convince the judge to relocate her.

There was a time I would have done it. I would have located the judge and used all of my persuasive skills (except for the aggressive ones, of course) to help my baby. I wouldn't have wanted my daughter humiliated before her peers. I would have done my darndest to keep her from being seen as a convicted person, not even for a misdemeanor.

But not now.

Even though Kathleen apparently hasn't fully learned her lesson (otherwise she wouldn't be whining to me,) I've sure learned mine. As Captain Cragen rightfully tried to get through my stubborn head, the laws do apply to my kids just as they apply to others. So I just rolled over, telling her that she had to follow the judge's orders. And I smiled, because even if my daughter didn't realize how lucky she was to be griping at me in our home instead of over a jailhouse phone, I did.

One more thing: the next time some defense attorney tries to use my earlier foolish actions against me, I'll tell him/her about today.

OLIVIA:

Today I passed a test, one that every cop hopes he/she never has to take. Elliot and I arrived at a juvenile detention facility as ADA Casey Novak---a close friend---gripped a negligent administrator's collar in a threatening manner. After we separated the two, I took Casey aside and told her that I would arrest her if the man pressed charges. And I would have, if Elliot hadn't apprised the man of how his own wrongful actions would have come out during the legal proceedings.

Never again will I look into the shocked and disappointed faces of I.A.B. officers.

Never again will anyone attempt to blackmail me over a bad call.

And never again will my CO suffer, no matter how briefly, no matter how willingly, for my actions. (Don, I'm so sorry, please forgive me! And I can never fully repay you!)

I know that someday circumstances may compel me to arrest someone I'm close to. And I will do it: I'll be true to my vow.