Amusing story that, while maybe a bit abrupt, I think fellow volunteers might find entertaining and appropriate.
Me and the guys on my shift were hanging out in the common room and one of the guys had a couple friends stop by who wanted to see the station. They were a couple of younger gals and seemed nice enough at introduction. Anyway, we were standing in the kitchen which is adjacent to the seating area with the couches and chairs, and one of them asks,
"So, you're all volunteers?"
We all acknowledged that we were.
The other gal then asks, "So, like... when are you going to become real firefighters?"
And without skipping a beat, our shift Captain, who was sitting quietly on the other end of the room reading the paper, jumps up and hollers, "Holy f*ck! I knew you guys were good, but I didn't know you were so good that you figured out how to make fire not burn you because you're volunteers!"
At this point me and the guys laughed but the ladies looked at each other awkwardly and Captain took another step toward them, and in his 30+ years of experience way, added something like, "I'm sorry, please pardon my language. But that's a real hot button for me. Firefighting didn't start out with guys getting paid, and these guys do the exact same job and take the same exact risks as anyone else except they're doing it for free. So you know what, the dedicated ones might actually be more real firefighters than even me."
Priceless.
God Bless Ya, Cap'n!
Me and the guys on my shift were hanging out in the common room and one of the guys had a couple friends stop by who wanted to see the station. They were a couple of younger gals and seemed nice enough at introduction. Anyway, we were standing in the kitchen which is adjacent to the seating area with the couches and chairs, and one of them asks,
"So, you're all volunteers?"
We all acknowledged that we were.
The other gal then asks, "So, like... when are you going to become real firefighters?"
And without skipping a beat, our shift Captain, who was sitting quietly on the other end of the room reading the paper, jumps up and hollers, "Holy f*ck! I knew you guys were good, but I didn't know you were so good that you figured out how to make fire not burn you because you're volunteers!"
At this point me and the guys laughed but the ladies looked at each other awkwardly and Captain took another step toward them, and in his 30+ years of experience way, added something like, "I'm sorry, please pardon my language. But that's a real hot button for me. Firefighting didn't start out with guys getting paid, and these guys do the exact same job and take the same exact risks as anyone else except they're doing it for free. So you know what, the dedicated ones might actually be more real firefighters than even me."
Priceless.
God Bless Ya, Cap'n!
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