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I remember my dad having a scanner when I was a little girl. He would turn it on from time to time, usually while he was working in the garage. I think he just liked listening to it as background noise. All I remember were truckers with bad mouths and I never understood why he did it.
Fast forward many years later and now as a police wife, I get asked pretty often if I recommend listening to a police scanner, especially while my husband is on duty. In total honesty, I have only listened to the police scanner a handful of times. It was never my cup of tea and I almost needed to distance myself when my husband was working because for me, I needed to stay focused on other things.
Now this is not a bash those who listen to a scanner type of post. If you read my posts often, then you know I am never one to bash anything. There are some of you that already listen to scanners and have no issues with it. But this is more of, if you are on the fence about listening to scanners and wondering if you should, then my advice is to not start and here’s why.
This is why you should avoid listening to police scanners:
It can create more worry or fear.
If you hear your spouse’s voice on the scanner, you will worry. If you don’t hear your spouse’s voice, you will worry. It is like a never ending cycle. You will be wondering all of the time what they are doing, why is it taking them this long to respond, are they still on that dangerous call?
Don’t do this to yourself.
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Your spouse will worry more because you are worrying.
Would you be able to work knowing your spouse was watching or listening to you all the time? I mean this in the nicest way possible, but truly, wouldn’t it feel stressful?
I am a firm believer that we need to give our spouses the proper space to do their job. If we are “connected” so to speak all of the time, how can they give their job the full attention it needs. They need to be focused and alert and knowing that you are listening could cause stress for them.
That stress could lead into home discussions, too. If you hear something on the scanner then talk to your spouse about it when they are home, it is hard for them to disconnect from work. Mentally, they need time to be off duty and not think about work all the time. (It’s great to have discussions about their work, but not from the standpoint of what YOU heard on a police scanner).
It is better to find other ways to occupy your time.
Again, no matter your reasons for possibly listening to a scanner, I would definitely suggest finding another hobby, if that’s what we want to call it.
Use the time when your spouse is working to focus on YOU.
You could:
–practice self-care, do something nice for yourself.
-reconnect with friends or family
-read, watch a show your spouse maybe won’t like
-take up a new, positive hobby
You can not let this life consume you.
At some point, you have to shut off “police wife life” a bit and not let any fears or worries of your spouse’s career take over. Even if you don’t have fears or worry and you are just interested in listening, it is good to have some disconnect.
After 13 years as a police wife, I can promise you that this lifestyle can consume you a bit if you allow it to.
All in all, I recommend finding something more productive to do with your time. Listening to a scanner is not high on the benefits list for you, friend.
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