🚀 go-pugleaf

On 22 Jan 2002 23:00:03 GMT, in
ba.mountain-folk,robert@Xenon.Stanford.EDU (Robert Kennedy)
wrote:

>Whatever. I'm sure everyone would agree with you that a firefighter's
>life is usually worth more than a cat's (there are some great cats and
>some butthead firefighters, but that isn't the common case). 

I'm kinda glad that you posted this to the whole string of groups
to which Scrubbs posted this, initially.

I *thought* about adding some cat-lover groups to the string as
well, but thought better of it.

Now, I freely admit to (half-jokingly) having posted about my
desire to strangle our cat.  (We're working toward a resolution
to that ... which still may ultimately involve the death or
dismemberment of the cat .... the idea of a cat with no legs has
a certain appeal to me.  He won't be jumping up on the bed to
deposit his daily allowance of hairs, he won't have the need to
sharpen his claws on the couch and he will not be running away
when we want to pet him or pick him up ... We are still trying to
work through this delemma)

Since 9/11, I have taken a modified view of firefighters.  Keep
in mind that, prior to that, our only experiences with them have
been the macho ducks in Boulder Creek.

That brings me to my peeve about them.

I want to preface this by saying a coulpa things:

I knew Hoot Cress and he played a big part in setting up the
volunteer fire department in Boulder Creek.  He was an
exceptional person.  

There probibly are still a lot of good folks involved in the
department and I don't mean to diminish them.

However ... (here comes the other shoe)

Since we lived there, things have been going rapidly downhill.

In the early/mid 80s, one of the crew seemed to think it was
great fun to drive a fire vehicle down Hwy 9 at way too high a
speed and happened to take out some person crossing the road,
near a curve, where the driver could not see at the speed that
they were traveling.

At around that time, I saw the crew of the day trying to help
some babe get into her locked Volvo wagon.  They tried all of the
standard tricks to accomplish it, but had no success.

This lady had two adolescent kids along with her.  They were
rushing about, trying to see what was going on and trying to
help.

Apparently, between the frustration of not being able to get the
car unlocked and not looking as macho as they would like, they
told the kids to get outta there.  ("Go away, kid.  You bother
me.")

So, instead of hanging around the doors to watch and help, the 2
kids went around to the back of the wagon and simply opened the
back door.

Not a single one of the firemen gave the kids their do.  The kids
got no thanks for what they did.

But those are fairly minor incidents.  They simply showed that
some of the firefighters had issues that really needed to be
dealt with before being allowed to wear the funny hat and pants.
Heck, one can find that type in almost any organization.

What *really* torques me, though, is that some of the
firefighters seem to have no concept of confidentiality or
propriaty.

On at least two occasions, I am aware of them being involved in a
situation (where they served no good purpose) and afterwards, we
*know* that they told uninvolved parties of what happened.

On one of those occasions, it was our own dear David Scrubbs who
took part in spilling the beans, right here.

Now, I don't know what anybody else thinks that they can expect
as far as confidentiality, but I know that there is need for
medical folks to retain confidentiality.

If anybody expects it from the BCFD, they may find themselves in
for a pretty big surprise.

This speaks very poorly for the BCFD in general, to allow this
type of thing to go on.

So, as far as I am concerned, the landings in the WTC had some
benefit (overlooking the very unfortunate loss of lives by all
there).  It showd me that *all* firefighters and departments are
not macho assholes who seem to be involved in the firefighting in
part to play with expensive toys, to appear as if they are doing
some good, to look macho and to have the opportunity to gossip
with friends and family (and anybody else that suits them, at the
time) about what they think that they have seen in carrying out
their duties.

Do I expect to get grief for posting this?  You betcha!

Do I care about some folks getting pissed at me for posting this?
Not even a little bit!

This is intended as nothing more than a warning to those in BC
who have certain expectations about their local fire department.

"Who we are and who we become depends, in part, on who we love."
-- "A General Theory Of Love"  Thanks, Mom
______________________________________________________________
Glen Appleby  glena@armory.com <HTTP://www.armory.com/~glena/>