I wanted to write this morning but a dog got in my way. The dog I am fostering, Luna, a gray pit puppy with the most remarkable golden sad eyes, demanded my attention so this had to be put off till now. 1 am. I want to take some time to talk about co-workers. Not everyone has co-workers that they like, or relate to, because each of us is different. We like different things, we respond to stressful scenarios differently, heck we even crave different foods. So it's a wonder that, in my profession at least, a group of people can handle being around each other for 10 - 12 hours straight, in a tiny room, jumping from emergency to emergency without someone stabbing another in the aorta with scissors.
The same goes for the uniformed personnel that I work to serve. They are mostly men, type A personalities, that yearn to control everything they come in contact with, and it takes a more evolved human being to recognize that with power comes responsibility to lead with compassion. Therefore I am surprised when any of them acknowledge my existence and take the time to actually have a conversation with me. I have worked in this field for 4+ years and I can count, on one hand, how many conversations I have had with officers that weren't all about our job. It just doesn't happen. Not because of disinterest or indifference on anyone's part but because each of us goes to work with the mind-set of safety of the public we serve and to that end each of us does our job inside the well-oiled machine for 10 hours and then we slip wordlessly into our cars, carefully put away our work mind-set and drive back to our lives. Where our families and real friends await.
Having said that, you can see why I would be surprised to be engaged in a lively chat with a co-worker, that wasn't all about our job. So surprising it was to me that I smiled about it the entire shift. And woke up happy with the thought of it the next day. And it leads me to wonder. What if we as co-workers, fellow human beings on similar paths, actually took the time to get to know the people we work beside each day? How much more productive of a society would we be if we showed an active interest in each other's REAL lives? Because no matter how tough, or in-charge you are at work, when you go home you play a completely different role.
We work side by side each day yet I don't take the time to see you. Really see each of you. Ask about your wives, your kids, your lives. The very things you are here to protect.
Think about the benefits of engaging with your co-workers. They may be needing a listening ear at the very moment you decide to say 'hello'.
I am still happy about that honest yet brief conversation I had with my co-worker. Getting to know someone is such a joy to me.
