James Fulford writes:
Why does this sound so bizarre in today`s America?
Why does sound like something that could only happen in a British detective story set in the Fifties—or possibly in a Robert B. Parker story about South Boston where both the police and the gangsters are Irish?
Well, that`s the point—on that Central American street, both police and gangsters are members of the same nation. That means that they are friendlier as enemies than minorities in America are with police who are responding to their calls for help.
Compare and contrast:
