(no subject)
The Badge, the Gun, the Uniform.
All the accoutrement of being a Police Officer…
With a sense of finality, I turned it all in today, happy to hand to over. At first, I was struck by the gravitas of the moment. For the last three years, I had born the mien of that special commission, conducting myself according to a modern interpretation of chivalry, often at odds with those tendentious partisans of other…standards. I took a certain attitude with my position, and made it my own, seeking justice, community, and harmony.
Once I undid the key ring, and took the Identification card out of my wallet, all that responsibility and authority-no more, gone. The shadow of regret and misgiving passed through me as if I might be betraying something. The self-reproach of surrender. The condemnation of conscience, of quitting, of abandoning something within and without. Indeed, what had I just done?
But, like a cool wind of happy premonition, there was an electric feeling of levity and lighthearted buoyancy when I walked out the door. This is the in-between state, the liminality of the median. This is the transition of status and identity, a shift in selfhood, a realignment, and dare I say a…rediscovery. One adventure over, time for another. As Dylan noted, “He not busy being born is busy dying.”
So, if you’ve made it this far enduring this protracted announcement, then you’re probably wondering, “Well, shit, Dude. So, you quit being a cop. What’s next?”
I’ll tell you what’s next: I finally got a job in a Library. I can already hear some of you say, "What? That's quite a change!" And others, nodding with agreement. “About time. Isn’t that where you should have been in the first place?”
No, not as a Librarian. Not yet, anyway. Give me a few years to earn that honor. Technically, the position is an “Intermediate Librarian Assistant.” But, I prefer "Acolyte of the Ordos Libranarium. Custodes Bibliorum Intermedias. Library Aspirant, Postulant Appellant of The Desk of Circulation. Herder of Books. Servant of the Word, Factotum, and Library Dude."
Does it really matter what I’ll be doing?
Because, seriously, Dude.
I’m working in a Library.
A University Library.
Finally.
All the accoutrement of being a Police Officer…
With a sense of finality, I turned it all in today, happy to hand to over. At first, I was struck by the gravitas of the moment. For the last three years, I had born the mien of that special commission, conducting myself according to a modern interpretation of chivalry, often at odds with those tendentious partisans of other…standards. I took a certain attitude with my position, and made it my own, seeking justice, community, and harmony.
Once I undid the key ring, and took the Identification card out of my wallet, all that responsibility and authority-no more, gone. The shadow of regret and misgiving passed through me as if I might be betraying something. The self-reproach of surrender. The condemnation of conscience, of quitting, of abandoning something within and without. Indeed, what had I just done?
But, like a cool wind of happy premonition, there was an electric feeling of levity and lighthearted buoyancy when I walked out the door. This is the in-between state, the liminality of the median. This is the transition of status and identity, a shift in selfhood, a realignment, and dare I say a…rediscovery. One adventure over, time for another. As Dylan noted, “He not busy being born is busy dying.”
So, if you’ve made it this far enduring this protracted announcement, then you’re probably wondering, “Well, shit, Dude. So, you quit being a cop. What’s next?”
I’ll tell you what’s next: I finally got a job in a Library. I can already hear some of you say, "What? That's quite a change!" And others, nodding with agreement. “About time. Isn’t that where you should have been in the first place?”
No, not as a Librarian. Not yet, anyway. Give me a few years to earn that honor. Technically, the position is an “Intermediate Librarian Assistant.” But, I prefer "Acolyte of the Ordos Libranarium. Custodes Bibliorum Intermedias. Library Aspirant, Postulant Appellant of The Desk of Circulation. Herder of Books. Servant of the Word, Factotum, and Library Dude."
Does it really matter what I’ll be doing?
Because, seriously, Dude.
I’m working in a Library.
A University Library.
Finally.