9 January 2020
Dear All,
As I prepare to
leave this job, I have to say I am very deeply moved by the gifts provided me
on my departure. They are wonderful and
they are thoughtful. I appreciate your
generosity and caring. Thank you so very much.
Truth be told I did
not want this job when I applied for it, interviewed for it and eventually got
it. But as these 19+ years have rolled
by I have come to truly appreciate the work we do. What we do is honorable work. We are right to
be proud of it. While our existence may
be an irritant to those we see as Petitioners, to judges who think we are too
intransigent, and to others who are just not sure how we should fit in to the
State of Michigan’s governance, what we do really matters. We help keep people
safe, both the general motoring public and the people we evaluate.
Our jobs make us in part
mirror and in part parent to people whose lives, by choice, genetics or
behavioral patterning, have been overwhelmed by alcohol and drugs. When a person denied and revoked a license
comes before us, our questioning and our orders reflect to them exactly where
they really stand in life. In our words
oral and written, we show them so many things, not the least of which is their
level of personal control over their relationship with intoxicants. If they meet the legal standards for relief,
we are the parent who grants them a privilege in many cases long denied. Making that call whether to grant relief or
not, is rarely easy. The decision requires patience, thoughtfulness and understanding-very
parental traits.
Truth be told I
thought I would be at my desk doing this until I died. I didn’t think my circumstances would ever allow
me to go. However, when you get hit with
cancer twice in just over a decade you really start to think about what you
want and need out of life. What I want and what I need have changed having now considered
the fragility of my existence. My time
to go and enjoy the world outside of work is here now.
When I hired on my
boss and mentor was the late Tom Kronk. Tom was a wonderful man with a
dedication to his job, a compassion for his employees and with a wicked sense
of humor. One of the first things he
told me was that I would have stories to tell from the hearings I held. Oh Lord was he right. From white nationalists, to allegedly
inebriated members of the legislature, to out of control attorneys, to
admissions I wouldn’t make to my pastoral confessor about bizarre sexual
peccadillos, I have heard things and seen things that are truly unique. Really,
there is a book to be written from this stuff.
I have had great
managers, Tom, Kay, Mark and Colleen.
All of them have fought for us and have made this job better in so many
ways better compared to when I started. Each
of them has repeatedly had our backs. There are too few jobs in this world
where that is true. I thank them all.
Preparing to go, I
have been thinking about my fellow HOs current and past. All are, and all have been good, decent and
caring people. We have shared opinions
and strategies. We have worked
together. This has been a great place to
be for these 19+ years.
As I thought about what
to say in a goodbye note my mind wandered Shakespearean. I remembered the St.
Crispin’s Day Speech from Henry V, Act IV Scene iii. We Hearing Officers are a band of sisters and
brothers. And when we leave this job we
will all roll up our sleeves and as we share a cup of grog, say clearly, “This
is what I did, and this is what I saw, and this is what I heard”, and we will
be proud of what we accomplished here.
Hope to see you
Friday.
Jay
No comments:
Post a Comment