RESCUE ME…
Your Worst Day is Their Best
“I Can Think of No More Stirring Symbol of Man’s Humanity to Man than a Fire Engine”
-Kurt Vonnegut
Recently I saw a video from the London Daily Mail of a very elderly, crippled woman with two canes desperately struggling to cross a busy street in the city of Kaliningrad Russia. After a number of heartbreaking attempts to cross the street, just at the moment of heartbreaking despair, five firefighters appeared, immediately blocking traffic with their fire engine, taking professional control of the situation. Three fire fighters swooped down from the engine, walked the woman across the street as two other fire fighters halted traffic in all directions.
As I watched this scene, I shed a tear as I was suddenly taken back to my childhood when my parents’ yelling, and fighting created my own personal hell amid the family chaos. My respite was the firehouse, and my heroes were those fire fighters who welcomed me with open arms and big wide smiles. Now that the future of my childhood dreams-being a part of the fire service-has become my past, I like to think about what was the essence of that attraction that still has such a hold on me 70 years later.
A few years ago, I took a risk to do some ‘inner child’ work. It’s not for the faint of heart by the way. One of the things I found through that experience was that I rarely felt safe. There is no question that once in the firehouse where I lived, in Oklahoma City, I felt safe. Whenever I walked into the firehouse, fleeing the chaos of my home, the impact of the sight of the apparatus had a kind of hypnotic attraction that thrilled as it created a sense of awe. But, by far, it was a sense of complete safety, and that feeling created total calm: a feeling that everything would be OK. Even more than that, it was a feeling of acceptance: safe acceptance-no matter what. Don’t we all need acceptance? So, consider that when you call 911 there is one group of empathetic professionals who will come just for you no matter what. Today our global society suffers from unprecedented isolation and alienation, and the pandemic is only a recent part of the problem. Depression, suicide and mental health issues are malignant in large segments of our societies regardless of economic and social status. People need to know that there are people they can count on when they are desperate-when it could be the worst day or night of their lives. The oath fire fighters take codify their passion to help people experiencing those worst days. Their professional ability and heartfelt desire to serve is to make that worse day of your life, the best day of theirs. Where else can we find a group of people dedicated to our individual care and safety regardless of the need in any country or city in the world, even and especially if it’s a struggling old woman trying to simply cross the street in of all places, Kaliningrad, Russia.
