I’m in my last week with the city and county before I leave for Maryland. I’m at the point where I am both extremely gitty and anxious at the same time. It’s like the first time you go to an amusement park to ride a rollercoaster. You know it’s going to be scary but you want like hell to do it anyway! Yesterday at the city we had a pretty full day on the Rescue! EMT all morning, HAZ-MAT call at lunch, quick and late lunch, and then back to the house for some rescue rigging. That was just the day time. Around 5 we went downtown to help soften a house for a live burn for some of the newer guys. They all had a blast. Our rookie switched with me for a while so he could play and I could watch the All-Star Game! It was sweet, until he got back and I got on the Rescue again and proceeded to run all night. I’m exhausted but I love it!
I didn’t really grasp just how soon I was leaving all this until yesterdays shift. Every call we had I got a hand shake from someone saying congratulations, we will miss you, or If I don’t see you again, good luck. It’s crazy to see people you look up to come to you in a completely foreign way and throw everything to the side. People you respect to come at you like you were both two regular nobody’s and say "good luck!" It’s weird to think that I could have made an impression on anyone. I could be completely wrong. They might be planning a thank god he’s gone party. All I know is that I understand now that I wasn’t just a name on a board.
While downtown yesterday one of the guys from 3 came up and said "Mikey, you’re in the short rows now aint cha bud? When’s your last day?" My reply to that question has been the 25th for a month. Until now it was just a number; a spot on the calendar just like any other Thursday. I sit down last night and see that that Thursday is REALLY close to being tomorrow. I now have 3 shifts at the county and 3 shifts in the city left. I am definitely in the short rows. Counting the last little bit until I empty my locker, take down my helmet, and turn in my badge. I am in the short rows...
UNTILL I GET TO MARYLAND IN A WHOLE NEW FIELD! THEN I START ALL OVER AGAIN! ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY HAS NEVER HAD A CLEANER TOILET!!! LOOK OUT BOYS HERE I COME!
