Workingthejob.com: Some of you were lied to

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Some of you were lied to
By Workingthejob.com

With a tousle of the hair, a little boy’s mother looks at him and says, “You can be anything you want to be.” While Mom is being supportive and attempting to bolster hope in her child, she’s unknowingly perpetuating the lie that is told to so many. It’s the lie that a person can be anything they want to be. We all know that is not the true nature of this world, especially in our line of work.

Let’s face it, this job ain’t for everybody, but somehow people with no business being in this line of work, whether they do it voluntarily or professionally, keep falling through the system and staffing our companies. I am so fortunate in the fact that the firehouse I work at is filled with fireMEN. Damn right I said it, and I’ll say it again! To be called a good fireman (emphasis on the last 3 characters) is one of the best compliments I can pay anyone, and earning that title has nothing to do with whether or not you stand to piss so tell the EEOC to stay off my back. We began the pansy-fication of this job when we changed our terminology to firefighter in an attempt to be a kinder, gentler, more accommodating, non abrasive version of our former selves, and that’s just one of the many reasons that MY fire service is weakening by the day. I call it mine because I take ownership of my small part of it, and I feel something you own is something worth protecting.

Example: How many new hires does your department have that can set up the coffee fund on an excel spread sheet projected into the next 5 years taking into account stock market fluctuations, inflation, and Juan Valdez’s profit sharing costs but cannot troubleshoot a Stihl that threw the chain and could not care less about learning how.

We have been inundated with people who feel entitled to this job. That sense of entitlement pervades every thing they lay hands on. Nobody has told them, “Hey, maybe this ain’t for you.” We were having a conversation about teaching classes the other day and I mentioned the fact that a standard had been removed to pass a class thereby making it harder to kick students out of a course. A person asked, “Why are you such a hard ass?” I know it was in a joking manner, but I took it seriously. I’m not a hard ass. I genuinely want everyone to pass, but if you tell me in a ladders class that you are not going to climb a ladder, I’m not gonna rubber stamp you and pass you on. I am not afraid to tell someone they are not cut out for this line of work instead of saying, “It’s alright champ, we’ll get them next time. You can be mediocre and still do this job.” I refuse to continue to be part of the decline of good firemanship in this occupation.

This job is for a select few individuals who are willing to go the extra mile to successfully complete the task at hand, for those who are willing to push the envelope of their safety to make the difference for another, for those willing to endure hardship for something bigger than themselves, for those who do not have the word “quit” anywhere in the core of who they are. This job is more than association with a group, more than a uniform and more than a title. If you see do not see it that way, you are wrong. The road for us was paved with the blood and sweat of thousands of men who made this job what it is today, and if you are not willing to uphold the values and traditions they set for us, maybe you should leave. If you take exception to anything I’ve said above it is your right to do so, but bear in mind that it is my right and privilege as a fireman to tell you that A: you ain’t cutting the mustard and B: Wal-Mart always needs greeters.