Some people know what my day job is, others don't—I work in a uniformed police staff role, something I wrote a bit about the back in 2022. I am proud of what I do, and sometimes it guts me that I can't write about it more openly, but "them's the rules".
It's just that I'm facing a serious long-service milestone this very weekend. On 30th October 2006, I started my current job. If you have basic maths, you can see that today marks a full 20 years of service.
I've been digging through the site archives and pulled out what I wrote back when it all started in late 2006...
(Extracted and slightly polished from the 2006 archives—mostly to remove the worst of my old formatting and protect the innocent!)
From the Archives: October – November 200630th October 2006: Started training today—two classes of 15. Standard icebreaker sessions to begin with, but the group seems like a proper good bunch. By the afternoon, we had the welcoming talk from the Assistant Chief, and within a couple of days, things really kicked up a notch.By the end of week one, I asked myself the big questions: Am I enjoying it? Is it what I expected? Did I do the right thing?The answer to all three was a massive YES. I loved it. It was more than I’d hoped for, and for the first time in a long time, I felt like I was exactly where I belonged. Early days, of course—we hadn't even left the classroom—but I was properly happy.A week later, postings came out. My assigned patch had a bit of a reputation, but I wasn't bothered in the slightest. I was paired up with an ex-soldier from the other training group. It suddenly started feeling very real.Huge thanks to our trainers—they gave us the solid foundations to be the best the force had ever seen. Good luck to the whole group. Here’s to the Class of November 2006!27th November 2006: First official day at my posting. It started creditably disastrously. I had two massive, ridiculously heavy bags of kit to haul around on public transport, and true to form... I missed the bus.The next one was 20 minutes later, which meant I’d have exactly 10 minutes to sprint from the bus stop to my new workplace. I walked through the doors with about 30 seconds to spare—the absolute last to arrive, with everyone waiting for me.The rest of the day was the usual induction whirl: kit issue, building tours, meeting endless new faces, and trying to memorise a hundred different corridors. A lot to take in, but I was in.
So, after 20 years, am I still as passionate about what I do? Absolutely—though perhaps with a little mild cynicism for the internal politics that can sometimes get in the way. Mind you, I suspect that happens everywhere in both the public and private sectors. These days, I'm armed with heaps of experience and knowledge, which hopefully makes up for the creeping age and the occasional drop in youthful enthusiasm!
That initial feeling from week one—that I was where I belonged—has held true through all the ups, downs, and everything in between.
Two decades down. Here's to the next chapter.
Is there a medal, you ask? Well, the short answer is no. Official long-service medals are governed by Royal Warrants that currently fall short of covering my role. There is an active campaign to get that warrant updated to include us, but those wheels turn famously slowly. Maybe retrospectively I'll get one one day, but I certainly won't be holding my breath! I believe we get an internal token of service from management to recognise the event, though, which is a nice gesture all the same.
Now, working in an organisation where quite a few staff reach retirement in their mid-fifties, it sometimes feels like that’s how I’m viewed these days—as if I'm on the final countdown to the finish line. In reality, I’m still about 10 years away; early retirement simply isn't on the cards as things stand. I’m completely fine with that, though it doesn't stop the comments (as tongue-in-cheek as they usually are) from a largely younger workforce! Retirement isn't in sight for me just yet, and I have no idea what this next chapter holds. All told, I've served the public for over 30 years now—including 11 years as a bus driver before joining the force—and I hope I get the opportunity to carry on for a good while yet.
Mind you, if I ever win the lottery, I'll be off to Wales before the cheque has even cleared!
The spirit of the Urban Viking—and the occasional absurdity of navigating the modern world—lives on in my webcomic, Northman. 
You can read the latest chapter here:
Congratulations! Twenty years is indeed a milestone! Glad you're still enjoying the job! The longest I ever worked for the same employer was 17 years (and that was the job I retired from).
ReplyDelete