Let's Talk About Stress

Do you think your job is stressful?

Imagine this.  You work at a job where you have no idea what you’re walking into everyday.  You knock on someone’s door and there could be someone with a knife waiting to answer.  You approach a car and someone may have a gun in the glove box.  People say police officers are a lot of things- power hungry, violent, rude- but remember that they make split second decisions every day about things that could cost them their own life or the life of someone else.

Now talk to me about stress.

The instructions they give you- put your car in park, stay in your vehicle, etc- are for your own safety just as much as theirs.  You know you’re not a violent criminal, but they don’t know that.  If you don’t listen to what they’re telling you to do, that comes across as a threat.  They’re not barking out orders for fun.  Please listen.  Comply.  It doesn’t mean you have to like it.  It doesn’t even mean you have to respect it. 

And the next time you have a stressful moment at work, just remember, it could be worse.