An Open Letter to Law Enforcement and First Responders

An open letter to all law enforcement and first responders

It’s likely that even if this letter gets seen by one of you fine individuals that fall into the category of law enforcement or first responders, it’s likely you don’t know me. Trust me, that’s not by choice. I would love to meet and get to know each and every one of you, and not just in leu of the recent events that thankfully drew some much needed positive attention to your underappreciated class of hometown hero’s. If you did know me, you would know that I’ve been a fan for a very long time now. In case you didn’t already know I’m a have a show on a local Classic Rock radio station. I’ve been on the air for over a decade. In the time I’ve been fortunate enough to be gracing the airways I’ve met all kinds of, what some would call, famous people. Celebrities, bands, comedians, reality stars…. I’ve seen the people I’ve worked with freak out over the chance to shake hands and snap a photo with these individuals. I’ve worked with people who got incredibly nervous about what they would a “once in a lifetime opportunity”. I’ve done interviews with, taken photos with and sat down to lunch with a pretty long list of the kind of people that most normal human beings would fan-girl out over.
I’ve never been nervous to meet anyone during my career. I’ve never fan-girled out about any of people on the list I spoke of. It’s cool don’t get me wrong, and I’m not saying it wasn’t an exciting moment in time, it was, and those memories are awesome and I’m thankful for the opportunities I’ve lucked into. But the thing is, the reason people loose their sh*t when they meet certain stars/celebrities, I think, is one; because they’re doing something that they themselves can’t do but would love to and two; because they’ve never meet anyone else on that level of stardom (for lack of a better way of saying). My son and I were talking the other day. He wanted to know why I had these care packages in my back seat. I told him they were for law enforcement, first responders and if I get lucky and see a US postal worker near their vehicle for them too. I told him that because of what happened there are people working for the post office that are going through a really emotional time right now. It might brighten their day to know that someone is thinking of them and wishing them well. As for law enforcement and first responders, I told him that I can’t even explain the respect and reverence I have for each and every one of these individuals. I said these men and women are my Rock Stars, these are the people that when I meet them I fan-girl out over. These are the one I get nervous to shake hands with. These are the people who do something that I could never do, but would love to. I told him it’s hard to explain how amazing I think these people are, some of them are going to work every day not knowing if they will come home. They wake up everyday to protect and serve, and they don’t do to be Rock Stars because they certainly don’t get paid like Rock Stars. Even though they may love what they do, they don’t do it because it’s fun, it’s not….It’s hard work, long hours, lots of sacrifice and not near enough appreciation. I said, I don’t know how to explain it and my son hit the nail on the head…he said “no, I get it….it’s because you look up to them, like they’re your role models, like you want to be like them one day, like your hero”….I swear I almost burst out in tears when that little boy could so clearly see what I hadn’t been able to articulate for years. I said “That is exactly it baby, no nailed it”. The men and women of law enforcement and first responders are my Rock Stars, to me they are local celebrities, they are my hero’s, they’re the people I want to be like when I grow up, they’re who I look up to and admire… they are the ones I fan-girl out over and wish they had a fan club cause I promise you I would be the president and number one fan.
So to all those of you involved in law enforcement and all the first responders of our community and beyond… Thank you so much for everything you do. Thank you for doing your jobs everyday knowing the danger you put yourselves in. Thank you for serving and protecting your community. Thank you for being there when we need you. I also want to say I’m sorry… I’m sorry for all those who don’t appreciate you the way I do, I’m sorry for the person who gets mad at the ticket you gave them or blames you for getting arrested or accuses you and those you work with of corruption and any of the other things on the long list of complaints that some people come up with. I’m sorry you don’t get paid what you’re worth. Know that you are appreciated, loved, looked up to, admired, respected and absolutely irreplaceable. I wish there was more that I could do to show my and many others appreciations for everything you do.
You’re all Rock Stars to me.