Wednesday, January 11, 2006

Next month makes two years of retirement. I am glad that I am still alive, I did not expect to survive this long. Now I am hopeful that I can make it ten more years at least, I am not so scared everyday anymore. Sometimes it feels like a long vacation, like I should be going back to work. When my health is really good, and it has been lately, I almost feel quilty for not working. Now, don't get me wrong, I have plenty to do, but it is mostly housework and chores. When my line of duty disability was approved, I walked away and didn't look back. I have talked to a few of my friends, but for the most part, I have had no contact with anyone from the PD. I don't miss always having to be teathered to my pager. I don't miss the phone calls in the middle of the night. I don't miss the lights & siren trips out to a crime scene. Occasionally, I miss solving a case, comforting a victim, tricking a suspect into confessing. Maybe I should be a "consultant" (or even better - a "sultan".) It is weird to miss a job, but after 25 years, I got comfortable with it, I felt like I was good at it. Now it is just a memory. When I was a young cop, old farts used to come up to me and tell me that they used to be "on the job". I hope I never do that!

2 comments:

Jellyhead said...

It's funny isn't it, how you can hate some things about a job, but love the sense of satisfaction it gives you.
I didn't realise you'd worked in the police force. I take my hat off to you - it is a tough and underappreciated job. In my work, I have seen some cops who've been absolutely shattered by their jobs ... an undercover cop who had to live in a slum and sometimes take drugs to avoid being suspected, a cop who worked in missing persons and was finding dead bodies of suicide victims on almost a daily basis...etc etc. I'm sure you know way more stories than I do.
I'm glad you made it out alive!! I hope you can enjoy retirement, knowing you did your fair share, and have earnt your right to finish with work.

TUFFENUF said...

Thanks Jelly! I appreciate your thoughts, and I enjoy reading your blog (even though pink is NOT my favorite color!)