Friday, October 05, 2007
'Give them the cash'
I'm with Michele: 'Give them the cash.' ... And, no, it's not about 'backpeddling,' as commentator Dan asserts in the link, in order to win back favor from jakes. It's because, at least in my opinion, the two firefighters responded to duty and sacrificed their lives. They were and are heroes. That was my initial reaction yesterday. It remains my reaction today. If there's any 'backpeddling' going on inside my mind, it's that the heroes might have been flawed heroes. There's no way you can excuse, dismiss or tolerate even a little at-work alcohol or drug use among emergency responders. That also applies to doctors, pilots, crane operators, etc. ... A friend helped clarify this point for me while we gently argued the issue yesterday. ...
... Not to harp on the personal too much, but my first thoughts, upon reading the early newspaper accounts of the still preliminary (I assume) autopsy reports, went back to an account I once read about a relative on the night before a major battle during World War I. A Marine based in France, he and his soldier buddies were in their trench, singing sad songs and drinking stale beer from buckets, knowing the next morning they'd be issued one last shot, the whistle would blow and it was over the top to slaughter. The slaughter occurred the next morning like clockwork. ... I know the circumstances are entirely different. I know you can't tolerate any on-the-job alcohol or drug abuse. But I've never been in a trench with artillery shells flying around or rushed into a blazing building to save others, so I'm going to cut the two firefighters a lot of slack -- while hoping the BFD presses ahead with enforcement of common-sense rules and procedures. ...
I'm with Michele: 'Give them the cash.' ... And, no, it's not about 'backpeddling,' as commentator Dan asserts in the link, in order to win back favor from jakes. It's because, at least in my opinion, the two firefighters responded to duty and sacrificed their lives. They were and are heroes. That was my initial reaction yesterday. It remains my reaction today. If there's any 'backpeddling' going on inside my mind, it's that the heroes might have been flawed heroes. There's no way you can excuse, dismiss or tolerate even a little at-work alcohol or drug use among emergency responders. That also applies to doctors, pilots, crane operators, etc. ... A friend helped clarify this point for me while we gently argued the issue yesterday. ...
... Not to harp on the personal too much, but my first thoughts, upon reading the early newspaper accounts of the still preliminary (I assume) autopsy reports, went back to an account I once read about a relative on the night before a major battle during World War I. A Marine based in France, he and his soldier buddies were in their trench, singing sad songs and drinking stale beer from buckets, knowing the next morning they'd be issued one last shot, the whistle would blow and it was over the top to slaughter. The slaughter occurred the next morning like clockwork. ... I know the circumstances are entirely different. I know you can't tolerate any on-the-job alcohol or drug abuse. But I've never been in a trench with artillery shells flying around or rushed into a blazing building to save others, so I'm going to cut the two firefighters a lot of slack -- while hoping the BFD presses ahead with enforcement of common-sense rules and procedures. ...
