This aint no place for the weary kind!

Jeff Bridges made a great movie before he did the re-make of True Grit. If you get a chance, watch Crazy Heart.

 Have you ever hurt someone you loved?? If you haven’t, you aint a fireman yet.

On accident, on purpose … doesn’t matter

 I’m not proud of it but for some reason, we seem to do it on a pretty frequent basis. we’re good at it.

Me… I’m the KING!  Yea … I’m an idiot.  I don’t know why but I seem to have a “knack”.   I posted yesterday about Valentines day and all of this (among other things) has got me thinking. Why are firemen… so damn much like FIREMEN!

LMAO… how is it that we can love and care so much about those close  to and around us but never show it. Yet, we go an extra 10 miles or so  to do something for someone we don’t even know and will most likely never see again? Go figure!

It’s hard to understand… I’ve lived this life for my ENTIRE life and I still don’t know whats going on.

We are unique. What we see …. What we do …. How we feel ….  How do we as firefighters “process” our lives? Does one member process faster or better than the next? Is it Apple vs. the 6G Network?

How about our Bosses

I mean, it sounds easy …. come in, do your job and go home. Forget about the “in between”. It doesn’t work that way. We have a burden that we carry in one way or another. Some are able to share that load while others carry it alone.

I’m not so sure our Bosses understand.  Our “customers” …. I’m fairly certain… have “forgotten”.    

We stand alone!

Today, we are faced with budget attacks, short staffing and pay reductions yet we are constantly asked to do more with less. Do they not know the burden we already carry?

Put yourself in our shoes ….  how much more could you take?

We are public servants who are expected to represent the “citizens”

We are held to higher expectations. Moral and ethic “standards”.

We are expected to fight and are placed into battles for existence everyday yet our employers do not want us depicted as fighters? Non-combative gladiators!

I’m not sure sure they know the situation we face on a daily basis…. you can only get kicked so many times before you begin to kick back!  Do you know the struggles your members are facing today?

Do you know the battles they face?

Do you pull a 24 hr shift vs an 8 hr on and go home to worry about making the electricity bill or house payment?

Do you go the extra mile to assure Social Services gets meals to a needy family only yo go home and worry about the price of fuel or milk?

The next time you’re planning your “state of the art” budget cuts and when you determine that firefighters are less important than prevention, education etc. When you think “staffing” and response times wont catch up to ya… I want you to think. Ask yourself … HAVE YOU BEEN HERE? Have you been in our shoes?

I’d dare say NO.

Here’s some unsolicited advice. NEXT TIME .. when gamboling with lives (civilian and firefighters) .. before you act I suggest you pick up a riffle and man a post!

These men and women do it on a daily basis…. give em (us) the tools we need to do the job you expect us to do!
Sorry about the rant.. I’ll explain later. Stay safe and in house…

Captain Wines