Willing to be he's not OCD

Sri Lankan police missed a prime opportunity recently for a case of life imitating art. Seems that a Buddhist monk who had applied for a job as the assistant superintendent of police was turned down, because he refused to wear anything other than the traditional saffron-colored robes. Perhaps the monk should've tried to emulate Tony Shaloub's character from the USA Network program. It might've led to better results.

Of course, a part of us completely understand the reasoning behind the Sri Lankan police turning the monk down due to his wardrobe choices. After all, police work generally requires a great deal of physical activity, and the uniform alone can be a deterrent to crime. Plus, when you're wearing robes, where on earth would you put your sidearm? There's not really a convenient place for a belt, and a shoulder holster would just look odd.

Still, we can't help but think that the police missed the boat on this one. Instead of turning the monk away, they should've worked harder to find more monks interested in police work. They could have then assembled them into one of the leanest (both figuratively and literally) crime prevention units the world has ever seen. Imagine a group of twenty men, all in saffron robes, being called in to support a SWAT team during a riot. Now add your knowledge about monks from pop culture, and realize just how deadly the group could be. After all, if television and movies have taught us anything, it's that even one monk is more than a match for a large group of people attacking him, simply through his martial-arts prowess.

Of course, if the Sri Lankan police are going to discriminate against this bald Buddhist for his choice of robes over uniforms, one has to wonder if other countries also stop certain practitioners from participating in law enforcement. We're specifically thinking about Japan, and we're curious to see if they allow the fabled ninja to become police. Our guess would have to be a no, not because of the uniform, or the fact that they keep pulling that prank where they appear directly behind their captain during a briefing. We're guessing that the ninja are excluded simply because, to them, all force is lethal force.

No word yet as to whether the Sri Lankan monk later gathered together club soda and a clean, pressed handkerchief to remove some stray fingerprinting ink from his robes.