You know… sometimes things get to you so bad that even though you usually stay quiet about it, you have to vent a little just to maintain your sanity. Recently the news has been talking about the NFL players that are bullying and hazing the rookie players. It makes me sick that these guys get paid so much that they can go to dinner and buy bottles of wine that cost more than the car that my wife (a special education teacher) and I bought (on a combined income) just so she can go to work and get beat up and crapped on by her students. When was the last time you and your family went out to dinner and didn’t cringe when you got a bill for forty or fifty dollars for your entire family? I am a police officer, who on a daily basis, goes to work and puts his life on the line to protect the public from people who want to take their belongings or their very lives. I am only one of thousands of men and women who do this every day. The disparity in the difference of what people believe our lives are worth as compared to professional sports players is ridiculous. I know these guys have been blessed with the skills and abilities to excel in their field, but I have been blessed with the skills and abilities to step in when innocent people’s lives are in jeopardy. I don’t say that in general terms, but from hard lessons through 23 years of law enforcement (and I have the scars, internally and externally, to prove it). When was the last time a professional football player stepped out of his car and was instantly placed in a fight for his life with a gun yielding person, who for no better reason than not wanting a warning for not having his lights on in the rain? I know that playing sports is very dangerous in its own right. I know this from experience because I have sat in the hospital with my son for several hours because of injury. I also have sat in a hospital room praying that one of my fellow officers would not die because he was stabbed several times by a crazy person. The same crazy person who’s family was begged to have him committed, but wouldn’t do it because if they did they wouldn’t get his crazy check every month. The same family who was so scared of him that they locked themselves in their house and cried and pleaded with us to hurry up before he hurts them. And then once we arrive to protect this family, the guy attacks and stabs an officer and the officer is forced to protect himself by killing the guy. And to make it worse, while he is injured so bad that he has to retire from his lifelong dream of being a cop, he gets sued by the same family that was in fear of their own lives from this man for having to defend himself. All the talk of paying these already to highly paid players for the dangers of concussion is a spit in the face of us who have to deal with concussions and far worse. The players do deserve a benefit for the possible dangers of their profession, but the millions of dollars they are paid in comparison to the amount we are paid is ridiculous. Some NFL players get paid more in one season than a police officer gets paid during his entire career. I do have compassion for the players who suffer disabilities when they retire from the sport, but what about the officer who has spent his life protecting yours? The life expectancy of a retired officer is only 5 years. The stress of dealing with everything that we see eats our bodies and minds. We are expected to deal with everyone else’s worst nightmares and then act like that doesn’t have an effect on us. It is impossible to see what we see and to just walk away and not think about it. I have personally seen babies that have been beaten to death by their parents, multiple homicides, drug overdoses, parents of kidnap victims, rape victims, traffic fatalities, plane crash fatalities, and victims of all kinds of violent crime. I have told the parents of a teenage child that their child will never be coming home again and that they will never be able to hug that child again. We are expected to just do that and walk away and live our lives? A police officer is and should be held to a higher standard. When an officer is accused of violating the law it is front page news. They are convicted by the public even before the trial. And then, if they are convicted they are given harsher sentences and never (rightfully so) are allowed to return to law enforcement. When a Sports Figure is accused of violating the law it is also front page news, but after they are convicted, the majority are allowed to return to multi-million dollar careers. And these are these are the examples we need for our children? Also, we keep hearing talk about college football players being paid for playing ball while in school. I’m sorry, but aren’t the majority already getting paid in the form of scholarships and tuition assistance? The average student leaves college with tens of thousands of dollars in student loans while the athletes walk away with a free education. I thought the reason you went to college was to get the education….. It’s embarrassing that when they interview some of these guys they can’t even speak in correct grammar. It’s amazing that they can maintain a certain grade point average to keep playing, but don’t even know proper grammar. My children work hard on their assignments and they play sports, but we will be lucky to get a partial scholarship, if any. I truly believe that being a police officer is a calling and not just a profession. I also believe that because of all these trials and tribulations we go through, we will be rewarded when we go to heaven. But it sure is tough while we are here. The toll on our families is huge; the divorce rate for an officer far exceeds that of other professions. We are looked upon as violent people. Once I was trying to help another couple by temporarily keeping their child, but I was told by the Court that I couldn’t because I am a police officer and police officers are prone to violence. We can be violent, but that’s because we are thrust into violent situations because somebody has to go there to protect innocent people. I can’t tell you how many people that I have personally been in very violent fights with and when it was over to be the same person to administer first aid to that person that wanted to cause me severe harm. In closing, it is so sad that our society idolizes sports figures so much that it is expected that they make so much money (for entertainment) and the men and women of law enforcement (who protect lives) are forced to live one paycheck away from poverty. One last question: Which would be detrimental to your life if it went away, football or police officers? I know this has been a lot longer than I expected it to be, but like I said in the beginning, sometimes we have to vent to maintain our sanity. Thanks for letting me vent……..
Posted on: Tue, 05 Nov 2013 16:51:17 +0000
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