The Brotherhood

I always wanted to become a career firefighter and never lost focus of this or have I.    Now that I have spent the last eight years as a career firefighter maybe it is time to reflect back and refocus.  My family recently took a trip to Mexico and I was walking near the pool when a gentleman yelled out “hey smoke eater.”  My first thought was who is that drunk yelling at now.  But I looked down and notice I was the one wearing the fire department t-shirt and he was yelling at me.  There were two gentlemen standing there, so I walked over to them and immediately they introduced themselves at a Firefighter Engineer from Metro Minneapolis and a Captain from St. Charles, Missouri.  That sparked an immediate reply from me because that is where our ex-chief George W. Sheets was from.  The Firefighter always called the other gentleman not by his name just by “Captain”.  We talked for over an hour by the side of the pool just about where we were from and our similarities with department issues.  Soon my son came over and said “Dad, where have you been Mom and I have been looking for you.”  I knew that I was in trouble again, but nicely ended the conversation and found my family again. 

On the plane heading back to Michigan I was recalling that conversation.  It struck me that maybe it is time to head back down that road where we respect everyone and enjoy this wonderful job that way that it is supposed to be appreciated.  Sometimes we get all caught up in the politics of government and forget about the job at hand.  Let’s go back to the part about the Firefighter from Minneapolis calling the Captain from Missouri “Captain” all the time.  These two strangers from totaling different places both were proud of who they were and very respectful of each other.  I sure hope that I reflected the same attitude in my behavior to them.  They both had many things in common, but the one thing that made closer than anything was there job, no the brotherhood.  Yes they both have a job, but that is why sometimes we loss focus.  This is not a job, but the best career anyone could ever have.  People become firefighters because of their love of the work.  That work is helping people and knowing when the public does not know who to call, they call the fire department.   Let’s all try and refocus on being a career firefighter.  That means being professional, enjoying the work, leaning on each other, and being a member of the brotherhood of the fire service.

Rick Nason

President PPFFU