Case #51 - re The People vs Chester Mitchell (Foghorn Leghorn)
This week I pay tribute to one of my favorite bosses. Chester Mitchell passed away in August.
In the early to mid ‘90’s we had Sgt Chester Mitchell on the EM shift (Graveyards). He was a well liked supervisor, who spoke like, sounded like and was therefore nicknamed Foghorn Leghorn. While we liked working for Sgt Mitchell, he had one quirk. If we fucked up he might write us up, but no matter what we did, he would never write us a commendation. When asked why, his reply would always be along the lines of,
“Boy, Ah say boy, ya jest did wha’ cha s’posed ta do! What the hail should Ah give ya’ all a commendation for?”
The other shift Sgt’s would write a guy up because a citizen called up and said,
“Deputy Soandso smiled at me and I thought that was very nice.”
That was an actual Dayshift commendation! But on EM shift, if you ran across a 211 in progress and caught all the bad guys, Chester’s response was,
“Ya s'posed to catch the bad guys boy! Ya jest doin’ what ‘cha sposed to do. What ‘cha think? Ya s’posed to go the other way 'n' let the bad guys go? Sheeit boy!”
If we saved someone’s life it was,
“Ya s'posed to save people boy! Ya jest doin’ what ‘cha s'posed to do. What ‘cha think? Ya s’posed to let people die? Sheeit boy!”
If we risked our life to protect someone, it was,
“Ya s'posed to protect people’s lives boy! Ya jest doin’ what ‘cha s'posed to do. What ‘cha think? Ya s’posed to turn 'round and go the other way, when you see someone’s in danger, boy? Sheeit boy!”
It’s not that we were begging for compliments, in fact, for years, we couldn’t have cared less. But then it started affecting our careers. When guys would put in for positions at other units, the people doing the hiring wouldn’t know us from Adam. They’d look at Joe Slug’s record from Day Shift and see a bunch of commendations versus the EM guys with none and hire Joe Slug, when the fact of the matter was Joe Slug didn’t have the skill or experience to lick our boots. We brought this problem to Chester’s attention,
“Lookee here, boys, I say lookee here. Now you boys are all fine deputies. I say fine deputies! The best at the station, most of ya all are. But cha all are jest doin what cha paid ta do! Don’t cha see? What the hail should I give ya all commendations for? I say what? Ya all think ya all not s'posed to do your jobs? I say, sheeit!”
Verdict – Chester Mitchell, this Court finds you Guilty of Failure To Recognize.
Sentence – On the charge of Failure To Recognize, ya’all are s’posed to contact all of those fine deputies ya ‘all slighted and make restitution, I say make restitution, by amending their Departmental records to reflect the truly outstandin’ job they performed under your watch. Sheeit.
This week I pay tribute to one of my favorite bosses. Chester Mitchell passed away in August.
In the early to mid ‘90’s we had Sgt Chester Mitchell on the EM shift (Graveyards). He was a well liked supervisor, who spoke like, sounded like and was therefore nicknamed Foghorn Leghorn. While we liked working for Sgt Mitchell, he had one quirk. If we fucked up he might write us up, but no matter what we did, he would never write us a commendation. When asked why, his reply would always be along the lines of,
“Boy, Ah say boy, ya jest did wha’ cha s’posed ta do! What the hail should Ah give ya’ all a commendation for?”
The other shift Sgt’s would write a guy up because a citizen called up and said,
“Deputy Soandso smiled at me and I thought that was very nice.”
That was an actual Dayshift commendation! But on EM shift, if you ran across a 211 in progress and caught all the bad guys, Chester’s response was,
“Ya s'posed to catch the bad guys boy! Ya jest doin’ what ‘cha sposed to do. What ‘cha think? Ya s’posed to go the other way 'n' let the bad guys go? Sheeit boy!”
If we saved someone’s life it was,
“Ya s'posed to save people boy! Ya jest doin’ what ‘cha s'posed to do. What ‘cha think? Ya s’posed to let people die? Sheeit boy!”
If we risked our life to protect someone, it was,
“Ya s'posed to protect people’s lives boy! Ya jest doin’ what ‘cha s'posed to do. What ‘cha think? Ya s’posed to turn 'round and go the other way, when you see someone’s in danger, boy? Sheeit boy!”
It’s not that we were begging for compliments, in fact, for years, we couldn’t have cared less. But then it started affecting our careers. When guys would put in for positions at other units, the people doing the hiring wouldn’t know us from Adam. They’d look at Joe Slug’s record from Day Shift and see a bunch of commendations versus the EM guys with none and hire Joe Slug, when the fact of the matter was Joe Slug didn’t have the skill or experience to lick our boots. We brought this problem to Chester’s attention,
“Lookee here, boys, I say lookee here. Now you boys are all fine deputies. I say fine deputies! The best at the station, most of ya all are. But cha all are jest doin what cha paid ta do! Don’t cha see? What the hail should I give ya all commendations for? I say what? Ya all think ya all not s'posed to do your jobs? I say, sheeit!”
Verdict – Chester Mitchell, this Court finds you Guilty of Failure To Recognize.
Sentence – On the charge of Failure To Recognize, ya’all are s’posed to contact all of those fine deputies ya ‘all slighted and make restitution, I say make restitution, by amending their Departmental records to reflect the truly outstandin’ job they performed under your watch. Sheeit.
Rest in Peace, Sarge
The EM crew will miss you
I still remember the night I fucked up and went into your office to quit. You talked me out of it and I will always be grateful for your understanding.
Oh my goodness, I know this man. Swear to whomever, but he is so much like a great professor who taught one of my classes in Criminal Justice at NKU. Thanks for the memories and the laugh. Have a great day.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to have reminded you of some good memories. Thank you for reading.
Delete“Ya s'posed to lead boy! Ya ain't doin’ what ‘cha s'posed to do if you don't gonna praise good work. What ‘cha think? Ya s’posed to turn 'round and go the other way, when you see someone’s doin a great job, boy? Sheeit Chester!”
ReplyDeleteLove this story, it reminded me of some of my bosses and gave me food for thought.
Thank you for the compliment.
Delete