A CLOG IN THE COGS

  Another example of not being particular about what you say, involved a guy we'll call Rick Janovich, one of the best cops at the NPD. Always there when you needed him, knowledgeable, tough when he had to be, and gentle when he should be. I hated to lose him. Especially, when I found out the reason.

 I was working late one night and heard a scuffle in the hallway entrance by the jail. Investigating, I saw Rick picking up a "customer" from the floor. When Rick saw me, he started dusting off the prisoner like he was a new hat that had blown in the dirt. "He tripped," Rick said.

 Listening to the A-hole's rant, I could see how a loudmouth like that might "trip" on the way to jail. I went back to work.

 After he'd booked his prisoner, Rick dropped by the office. Worried, I guess, about what I'd seen he asked, "How am I doing?"

  I gave him an honest answer: "Rick," I said, "you are one of the main cogs in my big machine." Rick frowned, turned and left my office. A week later he resigned and joined the CCSO.

 Years later, when we were both working for the CCSO, I asked him why he'd resigned from the NPD. Incidently, it hadn't hurt him, since he was a Lieutenant with the Sheriff.

  "You as much as told me I had no future there," Rick said, "so I left."

  "No future?" I said, "you were one of our best officers."

  "Then why did you tell me I was clogging up your machine?"

  "Rick," I said, not quite believing what I'd heard, "that was a compliment. I said you were the main cog in our machine. A key element."

  "Oh," Rick said and never mentioned it again.
  Causes you to wonder how many relationships are destroyed because one persons doesn't hear what the other really said.