Das war's!
Eine
Ich habe mich an der Schule geschaut und ich habe mich selbst gesagt zu meiner Frau, wow, was ist ein Ort zu sein?
Kannst du dir vorstellen, die Möglichkeit zu arbeiten mit jungen Adults, die sich selbst schon mit der Exzellenz erinnern?
Ich habe mir gedacht, aus einem professionellen Standort, dass es mich an die Plätze, die ich gehen wollte,
ich glaube, die Herausforderung, wenn das Wort Herausforderung ist, ist etwas, was du benutzen willst.
Es ist einfach, um vielleicht, auf ein oder andere Stelle, die Stereotypes, die ein Uniform bedeutet.
Wir haben Leute von all over the world hier.
So, depending on where they grew up, there might be a different opinion of what a uniform or authoritative figure might mean.
But when that person of authority at least takes a little bit of time out of his day or her day,
say hey, how are you doing? How's everything going?
It gives you that sense of wow, he really cares, or she cares, and he or she wants to connect with me.
And I think when you see that on a repetitive basis, you're going to say wow,
that lady or gentleman is part of our community, he or she cares about me, cares about what I'm trying to do,
and wants me to succeed, and I think there's nothing better.
At that point you develop a partnership.
Okay, just be careful.
We won't see my son James there night because they got to be in the bar.
Exactly.
So, maybe hopefully we'll have a victorious time down there tomorrow.
Well, it's good, I don't want to hold you up.
I appreciate it.
Nice to see you there.
It's a real good man.
Okay, thanks guys.
Hey guys, good to see you.
Hello, have a good night, be careful.
Thank you.
Sosci, the only, the good thing about this time of year,
you can get out and see a couple young adults, especially early nights, sitting at a porch.
You can get out of the car for a sit down.
I did that earlier down on the Walnut Park.
I got out and sat down at a couple of small porches to talk to people.
You know, it makes it more social than it is for a professional,
and people seem to like that.
Many, many of the young adults here are away from home for the first time.
As you can imagine what a challenge that might be.
And I think, as an adult, not only as an adult and a DPS guy, but as a fellow parent,
I admire the opportunity I have to maybe help a young man out when he's having a bad day, or a young woman,
whether it's sitting down having a cup of coffee, or maybe sharing a joke,
or going watching a ballgame, even if my team loses.
And it just develops that sense of, wow, it's almost like an extended family to me,
and I don't mean that disrespectfully to my wife and kids,
but I take it personally if someone wants to try to take advantage of a member of our community.
I don't want to give the kid his name, but the kid got in trouble last week for an alcohol related thing.
His mother called me, and I went and met with him last night for like a half an hour,
sat down and spoke with him, and we revisited the whole thing and went over it.
So now his mom, who lives several hundred miles away from me, is a little bit more comfortable.
Stuff like that happens quite a bit.
Well, once again, I have the opportunity to visit resident halls,
academic buildings on campus and such.
But when you get an opportunity to go to Marshall Street,
say on a Thursday, Friday, Saturday night, or any other night of the week,
most of the young adults have some time.
They're there, they're getting away from that environment that is their focus,
which is their job, so to speak, in many ways.
They have a time, and they have that time, they've afforded that time into their schedule
to maybe socialize or at least relax a little bit.
And that seems to be a great opportunity for someone like me or other members of this department
to be present and to engage them in conversation.
And everybody kind of hints,
oh, Joe, does this, Joe, does that.
I really don't, as you see, I just, I think it's just a general reflection
of the wonderful quality people that go to school.
That's what it's more about, that are doing the right thing to begin with.
And they're just respecting a man or a woman in uniform,
because all of us are here together to do the same thing,
and that strives to be not only be safe, but to succeed.
And I think that's overlooked from the student body, how they treat me.
What I do on a daily basis, I think, should be accepted by anybody
or expected from anybody,
but the golden rule is to treat people the way you would want to be treated
or your loved ones are.
And for me, that's been something I have never wavered from.
So even in times of peril, there's a way you can do or represent yourself
that I think shows people that you care.
It's not necessarily about what happened and what the result might be,
but hey, I'm here, and we can learn from this,
and when we go forward, we can still work together to make this a better place.
And I think that's something that maybe is lost at times.
I have never been prouder or more dignified to put a uniform on in my time of life.
Every day I go out, I'm excited.
I fit in with the younger adults in regards to that energy,
that enthusiasm, that is the community here.
So for me, in a way, I don't know if I can even put in the words accurately
how I feel about my job.
In my opinion, you have the ability to change,
and I think you should change.
You should be out there. You should be visible.
You should be accessible to the community you serve
in a role that is potentially beneficial to the community itself,
where that person or that group or lady and gentleman are there because they care.
They really care about you, and if you need them, go to them.
That's what we want to get here.
And I think the ladies and gentlemen at DPS and our administration
try us on a daily basis to achieve that.
