BECAUSE THEY GAVE A DAMN!

While at the firehouse today on my day off I was doing a little house work and had a simple little thought. I got a couple people together to take care of a simple chore that was just a little too big for me to tackle alone. Once the wagons, rescue, and truck were out the bay we all got to scrubbing and washing the floor that holds up the greatest house in Southern Maryland. I looked around and saw both career and volunteer firemen taking their own time to do a chore that only toilets beat out for the least exciting job in the fire service. With hoses laid out and degreaser going down I wonder, "HOW THE HELL DID THE FLOORS GET SO BAD?"

       I begin to think about what I had in-visioned being a fireman would be when I first started. I thought, like so many others, that I would be flyin up and down the street makin noise and breakin in doors. I remember being a kid and seeing these huge mountains of men on the engine and I just KNEW that that's what they did too. We all know that this is hardly the reality of daily life in a firehouse. Our days are usually filled with cleaning, inspections, paperwork, training (if were lucky), and more cleaning. Somehow this flashback to my childhood got in a street brawl with reality in my head and I got to thinking again. If the old timers didn't fight fire all day every day what made them so awesome? What made them so awesome that we all wanted to become firefighters?

       While pondering this and having random fits about why the younger kids in firehouses across the country aren't doing chores like this anymore I figured it all out. Its been written about and it gaining speed across the internet and magazines with flashy words like "COMPANY PRIDE" but its much simpler. Old timers were awesome BECAUSE THEY GAVE A DAMN! They cared that the firehouse was clean because they didn't want people to see them as slobs. The house was an extension of their home. The engines and trucks were extensions of their work ethic. They went to the neighbors house to help out with a project because they were their to help each other. The old timers understood what they were there for. They got the picture. They were servants. They didn't do things for the recognition. They did things cause they needed doin.

       Some say "Gone are the days that neighbors helped each other because they were neighbors." I say LIKE HELL THEY ARE! I still offer a hand for the guy that's not always around to take care of his house. I still come in early and stay late so they guys before and after me have a cushion. I still make shields for free when a kid dying of cancer asks for one. I do this not because no one else will or for free stuff. I do it because more people should. 

       The younger generation and mine are the guys this is targeted at. Don't be the guys that ruin everything that the old guys left for us! They sacrificed for our gear and our name. They are the ones that made everyone look up to firemen. When someone knocks on your door, go a crossed the street and help. When you go out to get lunch and you see the old lady with a cart of groceries, put them in her car for her. Not because you're a hero, because you give a damn! 

I'M PROUD TO BE A MEMBER OF THE NUT HOUSE. A HOUSE THAT GIVES A DAMN!

The return of something great!

I have been noticeably absent from my postings as of late. I have had SO many HUGE changes in my life since I've last written you. Some know my stories, many of you soon will. I have spent long nights in a chair at Duke University Hospitals ICU, I have moved my family from a red to blue state, and I now wear a patch on my shoulder that I have worked harder for than anything I have ever put on.

I write this short little announcement to the world in hopes that it brings those disgruntled naggers at your house around to see and remember what this is all about. I AM GOING TO BE A DADDY!

This GREAT little thing that will soon consume my life has reminded me that everything I do still has a purpose. I go to work for 1 REASON TO 3 PEOPLE.

SERVE God, Family, Friends.

In learning that I will be a dad I feel a greater push towards an understanding of the big picture. Gone were the grand skeems in my mind of working together as a team, changing the fire service, making a difference. I focused on what I wanted to do for MY career. What I could do to make MY life easier. Now I have a wonderful feeling. A sense that I can work outrageously hard to make my sons life better both now and in the future. Now my drive is back to be the best but with better motivation.

Stay tuned, more to follow.