An interesting conversation took place today between me and a few of the detention officers today on the floor I was in charge of. We'd had an incident with a floor worker who just went bat shit crazy and took great offense to a minor order she was given and decided to make a complete fool of herself. I was nearby and went to the detention officer who was dealing with it to see what was up. She stated she was writing the inmate up for disobeying a direct order and wanted the inmate to have to give up her job and go back into general population. I agreed and that was that.

The rovers came to escort the inmate to a new cell block and she decided she just had to try and explain her position and was being quite insistent. I guess I forgot to say that this was the female floor and ninety nine percent of the detention officers were also female. There were three rovers talking to the inmate. I've had this floor several times since I transferred over and the detention officers know me pretty good, but not good enough I guess, lol. I got tired of hearing them let the inmate go on and on and finally went over myself. I lit her up and told her what for and told her that her job was gone and there was no use arguing about it. She attempted to interrupt me and I immediately shut her down. I then had the officers escort her away to her new cell block.

Later, as we were just standing around goofing off for a moment, I was told they had not expected that of me as I seemed too laid back. I explained that I had simply displayed the "police" side of my persona. It is something I don't do all the time, like some officers, but only when it is needed. Some people live like that as if there is no way to do otherwise. The eat it, sleep it, live it, take it home with them, expose their families and friends to it. They are police all the time, everywhere they go, everything they do.  I just can't live like that. It may be the reason most of my friends are not police officers. Many are, no doubt, but many are not. Some are very, very far from being police, lol.

Not that I learned that lesson early on, it took a while. A long while. Three divorces long. But I did learn it. I eased off being the police, on or off duty, and tried to just be more of the person that was needed at that time, and that place, under those circumstances, whatever they were. I left a lot of carnage in my wake early on, but I hope much, much less since. Only time will tell I guess.

Hopefully, within the next 35 days, I can find a way to leave most of it behind me and only keep what I need to get through the rest of my life. I truly feel bad for those who've had to deal with me back when I was not so easy to deal with. It wasn't their fault.

Mac