Posted by: Blue
Today, I rode the bus to academy. I was there early. Too early. Doors were locked.
We met the chief today. He shook each of our hands, and welcomed us, and handed us our epaulettes with badge numbers embroidered in gold. I've seen him on TV, and liked his charisma. I liked him even more in person.
Our instructors introduced themselves. We met our platoon Primaries. We stood around during brief breaks in the first day routine, looking awkward in our new uniforms, and speculating about the next 19 weeks.
At the end of the day, after lectures from the Chief, Inspector and Staff Sergeant about the high expectations for our performance, attention to detail, and diligence, we were dismissed.
As I changed back into my "civvies", I made-up my mind to do my best all through training to be at the top of my class. I hung up my dress pants neatly in my locker, put some study material in my bag, and locked my locker to go home.
Trouble is, the key to my locker is still in my dress pants. Locked inside my locker. First inspection is tomorrow morning.
I've been practicing lock-picking all evening on a couple of spare padlocks. Think I've got it down-pat...
I haven't laughed so damn hard in quite a while.
ReplyDeleteDude, they're gonna give you a ration of sh*t. And it's good to get it over with on the first day. Because there will be plenty who will come behind you and get the same amount, but for being bad at their job, not just nervous and doing silly stuff.
Wishing you peace and reminding you that you'll rock it. ;)
Oh Blue. I laughed so hard too. However I do remember you getting locked out of your van and then mananging to get back into it...I believe it had something to do with a coat hanger and actually hooking onto the keys through the window which was cracked open? I could be wrong on the details, but I do remember you were successful. ;) You are nothing short of resourceful.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to focus on your statement of "I made-up my mind to do my best all through training to be at the top of my class." Do that. Squeeze every last moment out of this experience. Then do the same thing in the FTO program. Then do the same thing on the street. I'm almost 36 and have been doing this for 14 years now, and I can tell you it flies, and I can tell you this career can be as much as you make it to be. I've traveled to Europe because of this job, have had lunch with a former CIA director because of this job, and sat on the lawn of the Capitol listening to a president give a speech, because of this job. But more than that, I've worked with (and still work with) some of the most amazing, dedicated people this country could produce. So keep that one line you wrote, and reflect on it often. It will pay off.
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