Glass Half Full or Empty?

Well, let's just get right to the chase of things. TJ did not get the job he had interviewed for. This is about the third or fourth thing he has wanted and did not get. Please do not think he is not capable of doing things....for he can. He is just young. He has been on the police department four years next month and he has to remember that there are others that are equally qualified but have more time. He wanted the juvenile detective position very badly, he gave a great interview according to one of the sergeants, but they placed a female officer in that position instead. She does not have as much experience, no detective/investigative experience, but she is a female. That is not intended to sound bad, please do not read into that statement, it is a very good place for a woman to work and I agree. I wanted to work Juveniles all my career, but knew that I would not be allowed to be a DARE officer if that were the case. Just like promoting to Sgt., I would have to give up DARE and I was a really good DARE officer. I had weekends, holidays off, made great contacts all thorough out the city, did tons of speaking and educational talks city and state wide. I did not want to give that up so I never promoted. In hind sight I have a few regrets, I would like to have been the first female Sgt, but not at the expense I would have to pay. Plus I know, I KNOW, I would not have fit in and my life would have been miserable. NOT WORTH IT. So TJ will be fine. He is a GREAT officer, he will go back to the streets in July and I have a feeling that he will become a training officer. They call them FTO's Field Training Officers. He will have the honor of teaching new recruits the right and proper way of being a good officer. TJ is a great one to get DWI's. He has a lot of training and a big heart for keeping the public safe from drunk drivers. So he will continue working with that. He was one of the first officers to try out some new systems on report writing for DWI cases and he has a lot of training for detections as well. Plus he is good at finding and working drugs. I worry about him in that area, but I know he is well trained. And he is smart, good head on his shoulder. He is a much better officer than I ever was. He is a lot like his dad (my ex) who was a very good officer as well. They both just have that sense about them. TJ is just very smart and once he reads something he has it just about forever. Plus he has very good comprehension skills/abilities. That is a plus for him. He can read the law and interrupt it, and not be afraid to act on it. I have a lot of respect for him and the job he does. So am I disappointed that he did not get the detective position, of course I am. But do I feel that there is something else coming his way, something meant for him? Yes, he wants to promote to Sergeant in the next year or two. And he can do it. He has a plan, a timeline in which he wants to accomplish things. And TJ is determined. So I look at this at the glassbeing half full, not half empty. He may not have got THIS position, but he is in training for bigger and better things. I love you son, you make me very proud, not only in what you have done, but how you handle yourself in life. That is what makes a MAN.