Slave to the Dream: Everyone’s Dream

By Gaylan D. Wright

"The American Dream need not forever be deferred." - JFK. What is success? Is it money, or a prestigious job title, or a house and car? In this personal exploration of the American Dream, Gaylan Wright discusses his path to personal fulfillment during an eventful eighteen years with the Wyoming Highway Patrol. From routine traffic stops to unthinkable tragedy, the highway patrol sees the best and worst of human nature. Wright examines the training process, the brotherhood of service, and the ups and downs of working as a state trooper. With candor, thoughtfulness, and humor, Wright illuminates the daily life of the thin blue line and provides insights about personal character, racial injustices, and the ways people can contribute to making the world a better place.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Outskirts Press
• Release date: Feb 20, 2020
• ISBN: 9781478795452

Gaylan D. Wright

Gaylan Wright served in the Air Force before joining the Wyoming Highway Patrol. This is a sequel to his first book, Slave to the Dream.

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Slave to the Dream

Everyone’s Dream

All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2020 Gaylan D. Wright

v1.0

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PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

THE AMERICAN DREAM NEED NOT FOREVER BE DEFERRED

– JOHN FITZGERALD KENNEDY-

The great instrument of moral good is the imagination, and poetry administers to the effect by acting upon the cause. Percy Shelley also says, A poem is the very image of life expressed in its eternal truth.

A student once asked Albert Einstein if he kept a notebook on his nightstand to jot down good ideas he had during the night. He apparently replied, No I don’t, I’ve only had one good idea in my life. I hope my idea comes soon!

A good leader believes he has all of these great learned values; however, his or her greatest detractor is also him or herself. You are either a good leader and manager or you are not. Similarities between leader and manager end quite abruptly there. They are not the same, as you will see in my experiences through the years. Leadership is becoming a lost art. A great leader would breathe a sigh of relief when someone has a plan for growth they had not contemplated or asks a question showing they have bought into the program. He’d have a moment’s pause, thinking of all scenarios. A leader would begin the conversation with, You’ve shown humility and a willingness to learn. I would love to hear your guidance, and maybe everyone else’s ideas will contribute and develop steps through the process. A leader looks for someone else to engage, thus charging up his leadership engine with enthusiasm and hiding the feeling that comes when a plan is coming together. Most likely someone else will engage, then others, and the lesson would be taught and on full display. Nothing lost, everything gained. Then stick to the plan for as long as and best as you can.

Growing up in Chicago, we knew everyone had guns, but no-one ever talked about them. Everyone I knew had at least one gun, but the only time you saw them was when there was a plan to use them. Right now, I believe you may be forced to protect your family by yourself because the police do not live with you. You should plan to hold out until help arrives. Of course, this circumstance will most likely never present itself. The police have their jobs, and I have mine.

My father, O. D. Wright, was the most excellent leader and we always knew my father would defend us against anything and we would be standing right there with him doing what was necessary. I saw my father slap someone, and we three brothers automatically stood up and looked at the person he had slapped. On another occasion, he had a gun aimed at his grandson one late night as the boy tried sneaking in through the back door of our house. After that, everyone gave me their guns. He gave me his gun telling me to keep it out of his hands. My younger brother gave me his gun too. My sister lost her gun. We have a large family. My oldest brother had something special he would never give up. I hope that’s not a secret. So, I learned to not depend or become dependent on someone else to come to my rescue in my own home. Maybe folks should talk more with their neighbors and form unspoken coalitions. After all, your neighbor is always the first line of defense unless you ruin the relationship. Try communication, just like at work.

Most importantly, try not to forget that these lives given to us are just that. Life is cut short using the human definition we have adopted. It is so much more. I believe the gift called life is the miracle of when a soul is given a vessel to carry it within. We have all been miracles, as all creatures on this planet have been in their own way. The husk becomes the vessel that totes your soul. I want my soul to live in a good neighborhood. There comes a point when we all choose what type of body houses our souls. That being the case, how could we not be kind to our fellow humans all the time? Nobody chooses where they are born, but they are put there by the grace of God. How have we come to believe one human is better than the other? That will be the question you must answer in the final mystery.

Through all of the ups and downs, I continue to accept that Laughter is an instant vacation, as Milton Berle said. Believe in yourself and enjoy my experiences; now share my adventures and know there is good with me. Maybe you’ll understand my thinking after you read this second volume of my life as, Slave to the Dream – Still a Forever Pursuit, but now it is Everyone’s Dream.

Table of Contents

First Days as a Civilian

(Thirty-Six Years Later)

I’m in the Academy Now

Another Fall of Man

The Law is not Meant to Crush but Must be Enforced

(It is a beast with no conscience or heart)

The Evidence of Corruption

(And Lust, I’m only Human)

A Wild New Territory: Cheyenne

(Like No Place on Earth)

Retention

First Days as a Civilian

(Thirty-Six Years Later)

I SAVED UP my leave preparing to retire from the Air Force. I was ending my career, very proud of my two Meritorious Service and three National Defense Medals, plus other decorations. I remember my first assignment at Travis AFB right after a protest over the prejudice and bias there towards people of color. There were two guys who had been involved and were supervisor ranked. Tim was relentlessly challenged by the other supervisors for being involved and eventually would leave the Air Force. I wasn’t informed or knowledgeable to see what was happening to him. He talked about it, but it wasn’t happening to me and I questioned, Why him? It took me a long time to understand. Before he left, Tim and Milton, two supervisors, had taken up the studies of Bruce Lee. I trained and learned from them because they were gym rats and the gym was something I knew. Milton also listened to Tim, but he had the same expression as I did. He was wondering what Tim could have done to make them go after him. I really was just a kid and didn’t have a clue about the evils of man. My parents did a good job.

My first seven years were on Anderson AFB on Guam. The next seven were at Canon AFB in New Mexico, and then three years of finishing school and back into the Air Force. My life had basically been all military and Chicago. They way I am now is the way my environment made me.

While on my forty-five days of terminal leave with the Air Force before retirement, I was employed by Frontier Malls Manager Ethan Levine. My position was Public Safety something or other, a position they had just created. It came with the handshake promise to be promoted to a position just under manager once the person presently in the position left. I needed a budget to order the security team new uniforms to replace their khakis and ball caps. We ordered campaign hats and new uniforms. I was thinking a professional appearance would make this job easier. Everyone bought in, except the person I had replaced. She didn’t have the title and was demoted to my assistant. I would have been angry too, so I went out of my way to ease her struggles. She and the maintenance supervisor tried to form a coalition to usurp me with the other people working in the mall, but I just ignored them and after a while, the problem went away. People wanted to get paid, and my way seemed different than they had been used to. They especially liked the campaign hats and new uniforms.

I worked all hours and sometimes just showed up. I wasn’t a micromanager, but I needed to know who could be trusted to do their job regardless. There were occasions when, on my way home, I would drive miles past my turnoff. I was in a stupor and when I came back to reality, Wyoming was dark, and I had to figure out where I was. After the third time this happened, I stopped going in during the late shift— especially since I had worked during the day. I began to vary the times I would be at work and I was trusted to do what was necessary.

On one of my days off, I decided I would go to Casper to see a sports memorabilia show at the mall. While reading the newspaper, I saw the Highway Patrol was testing for new troopers that weekend. I figured I’d take my Michael Jordan rookie card over, set up a consignment, and take the test in the meantime. I dropped the card off and went to the testing site. The test was at a school, which made me wonder if I had gone to the wrong place. I hadn’t—there was actually a large number of people taking the test. It turned out to be nearly five-hundred people testing for seventeen open positions. I got in line and listened to people who had taken the test multiple times. I was silent on why I was taking the test because I was just curious what the test would be like. Yeah, I know—curiosity killed the cat, but read on and you’ll see that satisfaction brought him back.

It was an interesting test but very elementary reading, writing, and arithmetic. First, I figured out how long we were given to take the test, then I figured out how much time I should spend on each question. I decided to skip the math until I had answered all of the other questions. The math seemed like a trick because the problems were nothing I hadn’t seen before. I was wary because I always had a problem with simple. I could never convince myself I had figured the problems out so easily, and had even changed my answers to wrong answers in the past because of it. That is always a major battle for me. After answering all the questions, I was left with enough time to go over them and even changed a few of my right answers into wrong answers. Then I changed them back. We took the test and were told to leave and come back after lunch. I smiled, thinking I’m not coming back.

I went to the mall, picked up my card, and curiosity drove me to decide on going to see what my score was. The other test takers were filing through when I got there. Everyone was told to walk through a classroom and look at the sheet for our assigned numbers to find our score. Of the people who tested, there were sixty who passed with an 80 or above, thus moving on to the next phase. I saw my score