"Stop calling firefighters 'heroes.' " (A cush job most of the time)

Slate ^ | Oct. 31, 03 | Douglas Gantenbein

[Tijeras_Slim]

So what.. if my house is on fire, I sure as h#ll don't want "journalists" to show up.

[Pukin Dog]

I would like to punch the author in the mouth. There are not a lot of life-risking jobs out there, and those that are, especially those that protect and help others, are heroic no matter what that asshole (if the mods will allow me this) thinks.

[Conspiracy Guy]

Journalists hate everyone. What a jerk. Off.

[JoJo Gunn]

This is raw sewage.

If a man or woman sits on their duff most of the time, but tomorrow they might die while trying to pull me out of my burning house....

[IronJack]

I have to say I agree tentatively with much of this article. Firemen are no more "heros" than police or sanitation workers. If you think about it, permanent fire personnel were created in the days when we heated our homes with woodburning stoves and there were no fire codes or fireproof materials. Today's homes are much less prone to fire, yet the bill for fire protection keeps going up and up. And the local fireman is a sacred cow, heavily propped up by the media as a "hero," and too unionized to fire.

But the taxpayer foots the bill for men who spend the vast majority of their time doing very little. Granted, when they work, it's ugly and dangerous. That is, WHEN they work ...

[Nonstatist]

A cush job, most of the time

And this nancy boy left wing pundit sits on his butt most of the time making 3 times the average firefighters salary. I bet this sissy boy is not the "adrenaline rushing" type guy he suggests he is. Not if he works for THAT magazine, IMO

[TheAngryClam]

He's right- most of the time it is a cushy job.

It's the rest of the time, when the job is really dangerous and sucks, that they get paid and thanked for.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Yep, the exception is always the rule.

[MJY1288]

I would like to give this author a good old fashion ass whippin. He desperately needs it

[ChadGore]

What else do you call someone who runs TOWARDS danger on my behalf ?

HERO works for me.

[Nonstatist]

Journalists hate everyone.

Left wing journalist hate men in male-type jobs. Not metrosexual enough for them. No kidding, everything they write is tied into the Agenda.

[dead]

It is a great job, until a burning building falls down on your head, killing you and a couple of your buddies.

Other than that, it's easy street.

[Crispy]

Who cares if they sit on their ass playing cards or watching TV most of the time. When duty calls, they risk their lives to save others lives and their property. I think I read statistics somewhere that you are much more likely to die on the job as a fire fighter as a police officer.

[supercat]

There are many jobs which have seemingly leisurely work schedules, pay well, and 90%+ of the time the work is so easy the person could do it in their sleep. But what counts is the ability of the person to be extremely good at their job in the 1% of the time when it's really really hard.

For example, consider the job of the transcontinental airline pilot. Very high-paying job, but on most flights with today's technology the pilot has to do little more than punch a few buttons to take off, set a course, and--a few hours later--land the plane. Really nothing that a first-year rookie pilot couldn't handle just as well.

But if a plane is flying over the Pacific when some freak turbulence kills two of the engines and damages some of the control systems, things can change suddenly. A situation which represent near-certain death for everyone on the plane with a rookie at the controls may be survivable with an expert. And it's for the ability to handle those situations--rare though they may be--that the transcontinental pilots get the big bucks.

[ChadGore]

Re: So what.. if my house is on fire, I sure as h#ll don't want "journalists" to show up.

lol ! I can just see it now:

"In light of the wildfires in southern CA, Govner Arnold has called in Less Mooves, Peter Jennings and Dan Rather"

[Rocky Mountain High]

Notice he does not describe his "mountain rescue work". What a punk!

[jjm2111]

Oh cry me a river.

I've had to do firefighting training with the Navy and as part of doing some merchant shipping work. Firefighting sucks and I certainly couldn't do it for a living. Nothing is so fun as being in a room where the smoke is so thick you can't see the hand in front of your face.

For the people who that sort of job day in and day out, I say God bless 'em.

[Consort]

24 hours on, 48 hours off.

The hours and shifts vary. Some even work 7 days on/7 days off.