From hearing network news stories to listening to YouTube, there are a lot of us that are growing sick and tired of the continual campaign to discredit our everyday working police officers. Referring to them as lying, belligerent tyrants, there seems to be a generation of viewers that are being sold on what they are seeing.
Just one problem though … if you sit at home and just watch the media, you can get bent in the wrong direction on a number of issues. Our nation’s outcry to defund and/or eliminate police presence in our communities is creating, right before our eyes, a number of nightmarish scenarios. But here’s what we at the Free Range Texan know, along with a whole lot of others … typically there are so many of our media outlets that have sold their soul by ignoring the vast majority of professional peace officers of one type or another and not ever focusing on the fact that most of these men and women are assets to our communities. These first responders really do protect and serve our way of life.
At the Free Range Texan, we decided that we wanted to shine our light on that type of law enforcement professional, and remind our listeners that there is a “rest of the story.” Officer Chris Mitchell of the Lubbock, Texas Police Department is a solid answer to the type of working policeman that day-in and day-out continually sets such an example. Thank you Chris for taking your own time to show up in our studio for this interview. Officer Chris Mitchell is not a public relations trained police department spokesman. He is just a regular example of one of those guys that wears the badge and does his job, understanding that the job requires him to be held to a higher standard.
Thanks again, Chris, for donating your time and reminding us that the men and women behind the wheel in those patrol vehicles are more often deserving of our appreciation and respect.
All of the above is why I wanted to ask him about his day job. While Tim is widely known for his music and his children’s books, friends and family that know him well know that he has spent at least three decades doing specialized work in the oil fields of West Texas. Like most working musicians in our area (West Texas), even though he works as an entertainer regularly on dozens of venues, he maintains a career in the petroleum industry to fill in the lean spots in the entertainment world such as during a global pandemic.
Tim McKenzie was kind enough to allow me to ask a number of questions about the effects of COVID 19 on one of the largest oil fields in the world. His answers were frank and personal, and like so many others, his concerns about his future in the industry where he has spent a lifetime learning his craft are real and valid.