Letting go of the good life

Music has always been an avocation, as my 25-plus-year career was that of a detective in a major metropolitan police department in southern California. I investigated burglaries, robberies, homicides, rapes and sundry lesser crimes. I worked undercover for about a third of my tenure. I almost always ended the day at any number of notorious cop bars, or sharing beer and burritos with peers in a secluded area of a park. It was what we did and it was accepted as long as we brought no embarrassment to the department. We thought we drank responsibly, but the truth was that we hid it well. And, many outside the law enforcement realm often offered enabling comments: "With what you've experienced and seen, you deserve to drink. Let me buy you another one."