I tend to live in a little bubble where although I realize that awful things happen in this world, I do not like to dwell on them. I do not regularly watch the news, I find it depressing. And when issues present themselves around me for debate I am usually the last to engage, if I ever engage at all. Maybe its naivete, maybe its ignorance on my part, regardless - my opinions are usually my own unless they hit too close to home.
A while back, I attended a seminar hosted by local law enforcement which dealt with identifying stress and developing coping mechanisms for police officers and fire fighters. It was eye opening to say the least.
The speaker began his talk with statistics - the escalating rate of officer suicide in the nation, the stress induced physical and emotional tolls, issues such as alcoholism and drug abuse, obesity and depression. He explained that public servants in these professions learn to operate at a very high stress level - the job requires it, their lives depend on it - and when they return home post-shift, without a healthy or proper outlet - the effects can be devastating to not only them, but their loved ones as well.
Think about it this way, he asked... Each and every time a police officer puts on his uniform to go to work, he puts his life at risk. From a routine traffic stop, to searches, to entering an establishment, to driving a patrol car, in every single interaction with another individual while on duty, that officer's nervous and other bodily systems must operate at a heightened level for, at the very least, self-preservation.
Can you imagine that? Putting on your work clothes every single day and knowing it could be your last?
I cannot, no way. I get up each morning, grab a cup of coffee and sit down at my computer and begin my day. There is not a situation possible where that could be deadly to me in any shape or form. A bit boring now and again, but deadly? Never. And in reality, in order to do their jobs properly and without fear or hesitation, neither can our public servants.
Although that doesn't change the fact that it is still true.
The speaker suggested that when these men and women come home, without a proper outlet, they often have a difficult time coming down from that "high". He went on to recommend various ways, we, as their main support system, can assist and head off issues before they become full blown problems. Encouraging a healthy lifestyle - working out, hobbies, spending time with family.
Every day I am thankful that my guy makes time to make his emotional and physical well being a priority. He reads, he eats healthy, we practice yoga, we work at it each and every day and I have faith that he will never become one of those statistics.
Recently there have been a number of highly publicized officer involved shootings and the intensity and acidity of the debate in the media and on facebook has left me speechless. I'm saddened at the level of hate and venom we seem to be able to spew at each other in public as we defend our positions, all the while making assumptions based on our interpretations of events. And while I am making no attempt to excuse inhumane behavior in any shape or form, it seems to me that blanketly condemning an entire group of human beings sounds suspiciously like racism to me.
I was not in Missouri, nor Florida, nor South Carolina or NYC. I will never know for certain where to place blame in those situations and so I will abstain from doing so. I want to believe that as a people, our actions are no longer racially or prejudicially motivated regardless of our profession, but deep down I see every day that that is not true. However, I do believe that as a country we have put our trust in our legal system and that while periodically it will fail us, it is all we have right now.
And in the meantime, I am going to be thankful that there are still men and women, black and white and of every creed and religion, who, despite the uncertainty and danger and possibility of death, despite the backlash and distrust and judgement, consciously choose to put on that uniform each and every day and protect my freedoms. All humans matter.
#blackANDwhite
xxo.
1 comment:
We spent half of each year in Thailand and I am often stunned at the opinions of other expats - both US and non US. Since they are half way around the world from the US and possibly never actually visited it, they form their opinions on news headlines. And from those headlines they easily make broad stroke conclusions about the entire US population, police, politicians etc.
I cannot comprehend how one can make and belief such wide ranging conclusions, especially when factoring in the wide diversity of population, topography, climate, races etc.
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