Let me tell you a little story...
My Father is a State Trooper.
With that statement some of you are already cringing because you’re assuming he was probably annoying and overbearing.
But I loved that my daddy cared enough about me and my future to shape me into a decent human being.
Let me tell you how I grew up.
When I was just a few months old my daddy was in OKC assisting in search and rescue after someone decided to blow up a building.
When I was in pre-school I had the coolest show and tell of any 4yr old around. My daddy would drive his unit to my school and show off the lights and sirens.
Throughout my entire childhood I had so many uncles and big brothers because being a Trooper’s kid means being a part of a giant family.
In middle school kids would yell at me across the playground about how my daddy wrote their parents a ticket. I learned a few years later to smart off something about how they shouldn’t have broken the law.
There were nights where my dad would come home late and I would lay in bed waiting to hear the click as the door unlocked and the jingle as my dad hung up his keys. Only then could I take a breathe.
Before I got my license, kids in high school would joke and make fun when my dad dropped me off in his unit. They would say that I was criminal that had to be escorted to school.
In high school no one ever though my Highway Patrol shirts were as cool as I did.
In college no one really cared.
With all the recent events I feel as though I am walking on eggshells trying not to offend someone with what my father does for a living.
I was wearing a highway patrol shirt and this girl looked at me in disgust. She asked if I thought it was appropriate considering what happened with Eric Gardner. I didn’t know what to say. I think any death is heartbreaking but apparently those NYPD officers got was coming to them in this girl’s opinion.
I am constantly shocked and appalled when someone reacts that way to law enforcement. Yeah I know everything that is going on in the media concerning officers, its kinda hard to avoid it.
But this image everyone has of law enforcement is not the image I have grown up with for 20 yrs now.
I see heroes and I always will.
