It was my first day on patrol, not on the job. I was pretty nervous.  I had already been practicing getting dressed and trying on all my police gear.  I even modeled for my brother and sis in law. That’s a little weird. 

I was excited!  This was a huge step and it felt right. What didn’t feel right was my stomach. I just didn’t feel well!

But it was my first day on the job and I wasn’t going to miss it. I get dressed in the morning. Put on my bullet proof vest, uniform, gun belt, and head out to the Eastern District Police Station.  As I’m walking up the back steps, I see some salty officers. Salty officers are officers who have been there for some time.  They’ve paid their dues. They’ve seen, they’ve experienced, they have been where I am getting ready to go. 

So, I’m walking up the back steps and I hear one of them call out; “Don’t know why you’d wanna work here!”, and grumbled some complaint about the work environment and county government. I shrugged it off but never forgot it.  No one was going to influence my perception. I was here to make it my own. 

Remember my stomach not feeling well!  I woke up on the floor of the roll call room. My shirt undone, my vest and gun belt off, and looking up into the face of a fire fighter and my new sergeant, who was yelling at me not to come to work sick, even if it is my first day, as I could get everyone else sick also. I passed out in my chair during roll call. 

It was my first day on patrol.