4.2 • 2.7K Ratings
🗓️ 6 May 2022
⏱️ 31 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
From a young age, "Andy" wanted to be a police officer.
But in 2021, after 15 years on the job, he quit. Andy wrote about his decision in the r/OffMyChest community on Reddit — a choice that left him "half-heartbroken and half-relieved".
In this episode, Andy talks about the ethical dilemmas that led him to leave law enforcement for good.
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1:00.0 | Head's up. This episode briefly mentions suicide. Okay, here's the show. |
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1:16.0 | So when I told my wife, she was the most supportive person that could ever be in that type of situation when, you know, your significant other announces that they're quitting their job. |
1:30.0 | This is a guy we're calling Andy. About a year ago, Andy threw in the towel. He stepped away from a lifelong career that had been an important part of his identity. |
1:41.0 | And even in an era when lots of people are re-evaluating their life, their work, their life's work, Andy felt like he was making a huge move. |
1:51.0 | I actually, I texted my wife. I wrote up my resignation and I took a picture of it and I texted it to her. |
2:00.0 | And she said, what's this? And I said, my resignation and from there, just her response was just so positive. She was like, I love you. I'm here for you. This is the right decision. This is what's best for you. |
2:14.0 | You're going to feel so much better. Like, don't worry. We'll figure everything out. |
2:18.0 | And there was a lot to figure out. He was in a line of work where it's hard not to bring your work home with you. |
2:24.0 | Where your colleagues often form a strong network even beyond the day job. Andy's day job was the only line of work he had ever known. |
2:33.0 | I just couldn't do it anymore. |
2:39.0 | He was also leaving the family business in a way. Three generations deep and he still hasn't told them all why. |
2:47.0 | Oh, no, yeah, no, not at all. But we know why and so do thousands of strangers on Reddit because Andy spelled it all out in a post in the off my chest community in online space where people go to confess things anonymously. |
3:04.0 | The title of that post, I did it. I just resigned from my career in law enforcement after 15 years. |
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