First Published 9/14/06
I’m not a deeply religious man, but I’m convinced that God wants us to have fun in this life, because there will be plenty of work to do in the next world.
Yeah; we all have a job to do, but you can at least leave the house every day with a SMILE on your face (some of you get your minds out of the gutter!).
Just inside my back door that leads to the attached garage hangs my white helmet. When I stepped down as chief on September 10, 2002, I had a garage party to honor some of the people that I had grown very close to during my time with the fire department. I had them autograph my helmet as a way of saying “thank you” for being such a large part of all those wonderful years as a firefighter and ultimately, chief.
I don’t know that we consciously endeavor to have our “BIG FIRE”, but I think every firefighter wants their skills at least challenged to validate their service to their communities. You would have to be stark, raving mad to wish for destruction of someone’s property or their serious injury, but rather, you want to be a component of a successful outcome. We are put there, not by our choice, but by our calling. We don’t do what we do with the hope that we will be labeled a “hero”. We do it to fulfill our obligation-to honor our commitment.
And that may lead us to perform extraordinary tasks that could meet the measure of our public’s eye and elevate the visibility of our fire departments.
Living with the memories of some of the most horrendous scenes imaginable can create high levels of stress if we don’t control it. We control it by venting (talking about it); otherwise, sharing it with someone else who can understand it from their own experiences. We may choose to quietly reflect upon it, which isn’t as healthy, but we must process it in our heads in order to outwardly project our emotions.
Hey; I thought this piece was about having fun?
Exactly! Back to the white helmet…
Yeah; that helmet saw a lot of ugly stuff. If only it could talk. But, it also had a lot of fun and the guy who wore it-ME-had a lot of fun too!
You don’t show up for a shift feeling miserable about your job; you love your job. Bad stuff is unfortunately a real possibility every day, but so is some light moments; you know…FUN!
As a safety director for my company-my paying gig-to chief for a volunteer fire department, I can tell you without hesitation that I was happiest at the fire station surrounded by the camaraderie of my firefighters. I never looked upon it as “work”. I took numerous classes that taxed me physically and yes; it was challenging, but I never thought of it as work. It was as close to my dream as I could get. And I was well prepared to deal with the bad stuff, because I always knew that the balance could be found in the fun that we had.
To this day, my strongest/deepest friendships are on fire departments all over this great country. The handshakes, the hugs, the ball-busting and the emotional bond to one another. It’s the greatest feeling in the world.
And that, my friends, is fun. That is what is on and IN that white helmet. With each new day, I don’t know what it will bring, but I know that I started the day with a good thought and a smile on my face.
Granted; the boss might be on my ass about too many accidents, work comp claims or bitching in general. But I can always go back to the helmet for rescue.
Hell, if I could install a handle on it, I would carry it to and from work like a briefcase.
What’s your “white helmet”?
If you don’t have one, you need one. You deserve it. You’ve earned it.
I am reminded of an old Leon Russell song. In it, he sings:
I’m up on a tightrope…One side’s Fate and one is Hope…
There’s “hope” in my white helmet.
And fun; lots and lots of thoughts of fun!
Thank you all for letting me share my thoughts with you.
The pleasure is all mine.
The article as submitted is published under The Adventures of Jake and Vinnie© umbrella and is the intellectual property of Art Goodrich a.k.a. xchief22 and ChiefReason. It is protected by federal copyright laws and cannot be re-printed in any form without expressed permission from the author.
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