I am royally peeved! This is something that happened yesterday, but I am still so miffed about it, I am just boiling over! Hehe, this means I had all night to stew about it, and it's gonna come out GOOD.
So what has my panties all up in a bunch? People showing absolutely no respect to our Volunteer Firefighters rushing to a rescue on the road! I'm driving my husband to his MRI the next town over last night when I see flashing red lights on top of everyday vehicles. Being the grand-daughter of a Volunteer Fire Chief and the niece of a Volunteer Firefighter, I know what these vehicles are. Also, being this is a poor community all we have for Fire Rescue are Volunteers. Same with our Ambulance Team. The only full time, non-Volunteers we have are our Police Officers. All other Emergency Rescue that are in the immediate area are Volunteers.
So on with my rant. I see the lights, and I do what any person would do when they see flashing red lights on an emergency response vehicle. I pull off to the side of the road. Everyone else though, just kinda slows down behind me and stares like monkeys on a log scratching their butts. They don't pull over, they don't stop, nothing. They keep going. In the lane with the Emergency Response, no one pulls over. They keep going as though no one is behind them needing to get around. At that point, as much as I hate to say this, I secretly wished it was their house on fire. Seriously, where is the respect these people deserve? They put their lives on the line and don't ask for anything in return!
This also reminds me of another time I encounter disrespect towards one the local Volunteers. It was when I was working as a cashier. I was in the middle of checking out someone when I heard a couple of teenage girls talking (not so quietly) to each other. One said to the other "OMG! Do you see that giant guy over there? He has like a huge tumor or something on the back of his neck! It's so gross! They shouldn't let people like that walk around in public." Other girl, "I know, right?". I looked towards where they were looking and noticed who they were talking about. I was enraged (I was already enraged, but now even more so). At this point I spoke up, "That's not a tumor, it's a scar from where a back draft of fire came up under his helmet during a fire rescue." I said with a not so happy look on my face. By this time I was checking out the two girls. The lady in front of me didn't seem too happy with their comment either because she gave them a disgusting look before she left. Before I could finish what I had to say about the man, the first girl piped up, "You couldn't pay me enough to do a job that dangerous....or stupid.". She smirked afterwards thinking she had "outsmarted" me and made her point about "ugly people". How ignorant some teenagers can be. I finished up, "Same for him. That's why he's a Volunteer. FYI, that back draft scar is over top of his scar from his epilepsy surgery. Before he had his surgery he could only dream of doing something like being a Firefighter, going to the store alone, driving, stuff you do every day.". I smiled at the last part. Not because I had won, but because I was proud of the man. Of all he had overcome, and what he could now do. The two girls were speechless as they paid for their stuff and walked away. The man had just finished paying for his stuff and was walking past my register. I asked the next customer if it she didn't mind waiting a second while I gave my Uncle a hug. She, of course, had no problem. I then walked over, stood on my tippy toes, and gave my 6 foot 6 inch Uncle a hug. Even though I have always been proud of my Uncle for all he has overcome, I was even more proud at that moment.
Our Volunteers may not wear a uniform or drive a special vehicle, but they deserve the same respect as those that do. They do the same job as our uniformed Emergency Response. The only difference is they don't get a paycheck for it.
That's today's rant. Peace out, rant on!
-Sesshy
No comments:
Post a Comment