the vibe

At the Starbucks today, I had a great chat with a police officer as we both were waiting on our orders.   He is probably ten years my junior, but  I had the sense,  a “vibe” Californians generally would call it,  that this man was formerly military.   The bearing of a military veteran is different; I’ve talked with religious leaders whom I got that same sense and  I then find confirmed they served in the military.  And having the acquaintance of cops from other backgrounds,  and cops who transitioned from the military,  I think there is subtle differences.  But I digress.  This officer acknowledged that he transitioned into blue uniform of a police officer.   However, his Army career and his public service had been in tandem:  while recently retired from the Army National Guard,  he was and is a 20-plus years veteran police officer civilian and military police.