RE: Old Firefighters Never Die: They Just Smell Smoky
Congratulations on your accomplishments. I think it must be satisfactory to have fulfilled two of your main goals.
I met a woman in grad school (I think from Peoria,IL) who was into creative writing (non-fiction) and she was working on a book about a fire department at the time I took this one and only creative writing class (I was doing something else).
I think that what firefighters do is admirable. I have not seen any other group in uniform care about others with such detachment and zeal.
I admire any society that understands the value of firefighters and makes sure they lack nothing to do their work. We are not one of those societies over here and our fightfighters do not even have vehicles to respond to emergencies.
I requested once assitance to have a neighbor's huge tree cut. They told me they did not have any equipment for that. I ended up doing it myself with a machete and even posted about it.
Anyway, congratulations on your book. Wish you the best doing whatever you end up doing after having completed this stage in your life. I just quit my teaching job. I know what it feels.
Thanks! That's sad to hear, about your fire department. We all have our issues with getting what we need, but some people have more trouble with that than others.
In general firefighters consider themselves brothers and sisters, no matter what area of the world they come from. Fires all burn the same, and to a large extent our jobs are very similar.
They are indeed. And that's what saddens me the most. Then, in times of need, when tragedy hits, politicians have their pictures taken and pledge full support while putting those men and women's lives at risk by forcing them ti work under high risks, underequipped and understaffed
Sadly, politicians are the same all over, too.