Book: Aging Beyond Belief by Don Ardell

If you plan to age, prepare yourself — it's later than you think. The challenge of aging well should be taken seriously, but not grimly! Whatever your age, it's never too soon, or too late, to learn and apply the fine art of aging well, really well. Discover what aspects of aging can't be changed and improve the rest that can. Mold your own realities with REAL wellness, Ardell-style.

The 69 tips — one for each year of the author's life — are thought-provoking, challenging, eye-opening, manageable and fun to read. And all provide practical guidance for intelligently designing your own life-style evolution.
Learn more

Don's report archive

by Donald B. Ardell, Ph. D.
Read Don's blog!

Wellness in the Headlines
(Don's Report to the World)

Be Fit Or Get Fired: A Lesson Gained From The Sacking Of A Fitness-Oriented Police Chief

Saturday December 2, 2006

The sleepy town of Winter Haven, Florida got its 15 minutes of fame (or infamy) in early November when its police chief, Paul S. Goward, was fired for being a fitness promoter! More specifically, Mr. Goward, a very fit 60-year-old veteran cop, made a strong case for a fit police department in the form of a ten-point email to all the officers on the force. This sounds reasonable to me. How could this be a firing offense? Should he not have been given a raise?

Does this make sense to you? Could such a thing be a firing offense? You be the judge. Here is the fatal email message, "Are You a Jelly Belly,?" obtained from the ex-chief himself.

As I look around the department, I see a disconcerting number of us that appear physically challenged with obesity and/or a general lack of fitness. This is a tremendous concern to me because the literature, to say nothing of common sense, says that if you are obese or out of shape, you are a predictable liability to yourself, your family, your partner, this department, the City of Winter Haven and the citizens of our city. Here is a list of the reasons. You generally:

Are a health risk and you compromise departmental readiness. You are prone to hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, back problems, hemorrhoids and a multitude of other illnesses and injuries.
Are a poor image representation of the profession.
Are not combat ready and cannot defend yourself properly against a fit suspect.
Are unable to successfully, without a much higher health or injury risk, chase a suspect for any great distance.
May have to resort to a higher level of force than a fit officer.
Lack energy which impacts your initiative level.
Do not sleep well and are not properly rested.
Are actually, or appear to be, lazier than a fit officer.
Are not prepared to transition from a sedentary environment to a suddenly physically demanding one.
Are aware that you are not fit.

So, take a good look at yourself. If you are unfit, do yourself and everyone else a favor. See a professional about a proper diet and a fitness training program (we do have a workout room), quit smoking, limit alcohol intake and start thinking about self-pride, confidence and respectability. And, stop making excuses for delaying what you know you should have been doing years ago. We didn't hire you unfit and we don't want you working unfit. You owe it to us.

Don't mean to offend, this is just straight talk. I owe it to you.

Well, what do YOU think? The recipients of the message did not take it in the intended spirit, for gratitude was not the response - termination was. I believe ex-chief Goward's initiative was an enlightened message, sensible, accurate and courageous. I think other police chiefs across the land should emulate Mr. Goward's initiative, and be honored for doing so.

Of course, it's difficult to know what the real reasons might have been for the chief's dismissal -- it's hard to believe it actually was this ten-point call to wellness. Maybe the city manager or somebody in a high place wanted to can the chief for years, but could not make a proper case - until this.

If that's the case, he or she miscalculated. A different reason should have been found. This firing has made the ex-chief a national celebrity -- and the town has been made to look ridiculous.

A columnist for the local paper, The Ledger of Lakeland, was quoted as follows: "He offered tremendously good advice, yet he was sacked." Just so. It was indeed tremendously good advice, and it should be promoted widely. AÂ pollÂ taken online of well over 300,000 respondents one week after the firing showed overwhelming support for the ex-chief. Asked if the 'jelly bellies' memo was inappropriate, 72 percent said "no;" only 28 percent agreed. Asked if "you think the chief should have been fired," the results were startling: only 3 percent said "yes" versus 97 percent "no."

If I were master of the universe, which I would not mind on occasions like this, I would reinstate the chief. I would also fire everyone associated with his sacking and ensure that Chief Goward got a handsome raise, a holiday named in his honor, a big parade and a bronze bust in his likeness. The latter would be mounted in front of the Winter Haven City Hall.

Then I would require not just Winter Haven but police departments across the land to offer police officer mandates to be fit or get fired. Of course, as a warm-hearted, benevolent despot, I would give all officers ample time to do so and see that effective programs and trainings were made available -- at no cost to the tubby officers. I would try to use positive incentives to guide officers to high levels of fitness. But, those who resisted, refused or otherwise remained fat and unfit would bear the awesome power of my righteous wrath --they would be terminated. They could find other lines of work wherein pooping out would not be a liability to the city and their families.

I think the ex-chief did the right thing and hope that he is appreciated in his next assignment.

Be well. Look on the bright side, even if you are a jelly belly.

Domain: purpose
Subdomain: applied wellness

Search other reports in the Don Ardell report archive.

	Custom Search