I hope to be retired (pending the sale of my home) in anywhere from 3-6 weeks. We intend to leave for another state.
My general plans are well known, but the specifics are not because of the home being on the market, still. People keep asking about a party...doing something for me...a caricature retirement flyer...an end-of-watch radio broadcast. I don't want any part of it. I want to leave, unnoticed, out the door.
There are a few reasons for this.
One - In my lifetime contract with my Creator, there's this clause that says 'wherever I go, I do not fit in.' Even though I've spent 30 years here, I still feel like the brown shoes in the room full of tuxedos. 22 years of sobriety, often mixed with psychotherapy, has not fixed those feelings.
Two - My wife is a civilian employee of the Department, and I really think she's been treated like a second-class citizen, at times, even by former supervisors/partners of mine. They are screwing her pretty good right now, after an IOD shoulder surgery and she's no longer getting paid.
Three - I have little kids...any party would have to have juice boxes, rice krispie snacks, ...but since I don't drink we could always have it at Chuck E. Cheese!
Four - I just don't feel like having a friggin' party.
Five - Although I love the job of being a cop and a sergeant...I just don't love the city right now. Getting any paperwork of appreciation, from the City Council or hizzoner, Mayor Reconquista, would gag me.
Now my 78 year-old mom, my 23 year-old son, keep asking, "What, no party?" My wife has people working behind the scenes about caricatures and EOW broadcasts. Fellow sergeants keep saying "We need to do something for you!" Every time I find out - I put the kibosh on it. Do I let them throw a party...a party I would not attend if I had a choice...so they feel better about my leaving?
I know I should have called Dr. Laura....or tried to get on Dr. Phil with this, but I trust you guys!
So let me ask you....did you want all the bells and whistles? Did you not? Did they do it, anyway? Are you glad you did? Do you wish you had not?
My general plans are well known, but the specifics are not because of the home being on the market, still. People keep asking about a party...doing something for me...a caricature retirement flyer...an end-of-watch radio broadcast. I don't want any part of it. I want to leave, unnoticed, out the door.
There are a few reasons for this.
One - In my lifetime contract with my Creator, there's this clause that says 'wherever I go, I do not fit in.' Even though I've spent 30 years here, I still feel like the brown shoes in the room full of tuxedos. 22 years of sobriety, often mixed with psychotherapy, has not fixed those feelings.
Two - My wife is a civilian employee of the Department, and I really think she's been treated like a second-class citizen, at times, even by former supervisors/partners of mine. They are screwing her pretty good right now, after an IOD shoulder surgery and she's no longer getting paid.
Three - I have little kids...any party would have to have juice boxes, rice krispie snacks, ...but since I don't drink we could always have it at Chuck E. Cheese!
Four - I just don't feel like having a friggin' party.
Five - Although I love the job of being a cop and a sergeant...I just don't love the city right now. Getting any paperwork of appreciation, from the City Council or hizzoner, Mayor Reconquista, would gag me.
Now my 78 year-old mom, my 23 year-old son, keep asking, "What, no party?" My wife has people working behind the scenes about caricatures and EOW broadcasts. Fellow sergeants keep saying "We need to do something for you!" Every time I find out - I put the kibosh on it. Do I let them throw a party...a party I would not attend if I had a choice...so they feel better about my leaving?
I know I should have called Dr. Laura....or tried to get on Dr. Phil with this, but I trust you guys!
So let me ask you....did you want all the bells and whistles? Did you not? Did they do it, anyway? Are you glad you did? Do you wish you had not?
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