[Tuberoller]

I don't know about you guys but I have never had much affection for people who snitch,rat or drop a dime on other people.That just gets under my skin and where I'm from a "rat" is the worst thing you can be called.The current culture and atmosphere of "whistle blowing" as a public service has made things almost unbearable.You can't do **** nowadays without the fear of someone rolling you over.Don't get me wrong,I can differentiate between giving valuable info that may solve or prevent a crime or some other serious matters when information of any kind is vital and times when people rat you out just to make themselves look good or worse yet to make you look bad.

The reason I 'm dropping this rant on you guys tonight is that I had some "good citizen" squeal on my Engine Company today.I guess this person did not find it OK that me and the other four Firefighters in our company stopped for a bit to have a snowball fight with some kids on the street(last Monday).This type of **** happens all the time.The last time Firefighters were caught playing with kids all the guys were suspended without pay for a shift(which is equal to three days pay).The facts are that we were called to a box alarm at a school that turned out to be false.We were waiting outside the school along with all the other fire companies(16 in all) that get called to an alarm at a school and some kids came along and wailed on us with snowballs.Well, we had to get em' back so we chased them down the block and tore them all up.It was a blast and some of the other Firefighters got a good laugh from this as well.The Chief said nothing about it and the kids were having a ball too.For this I get "The Call".Now I gotta fill out all the stinkin' forms and explain our actions.I'm pissed and I hate rat bastards.

 

[CRESCENDOPOWER]

What are you gonna write? "We had a snowball fight with the kids, and they loved it." Give me a f_c_ing break. People need to mind there own damn business. There is nothing worse than a RAT!

 

[carlo]

Tube,

(steals soapbox from Tuberoller)

I'm just curious, what would your response have been if the person who made the complaint walked up to you and asked why he saw a bunch of firefighters, in full uniform and obviously on duty, run by his block. Or if he asked if you were on a break?

There's a duality here: as a firefighter you're a public servant, paid for by tax dollars. I'm all about tax payer's rights, and while I wouldn't call in a complaint (thats lame to me) I'd be inclined to walk up to a cop who was sleeping on the job to ask if he wouldn't mind repaying the county for the time and money he was wasting away. Would I catch ****? Yeah. Would it be worth it? Hell yeah.

If your collegues were suspended previously for something and you chose to do the same thing anyway, I applaud you for standing up for what you think is right. But don't bitch because someone complained about it.

The flip side is I personally don't think you did anything wrong. When I was a kid I was told that police officers and firefighters were my friends. Nowadays the fuzz is constantly giving me a hassle (most firefighters and the too few law enforcement groups that actually protect and serve still have my admiration and thanks). More firefighters need to play with kids, its part of serving the public as far as I'm concerned.

Where I grew up I was taught there were two things that would get your ass kicked: saying what you promised not to say and talking/causing **** without standing up. The person who called your supervisor (or whoever has you filling out forms) in regards to a complaint isn't standing up - thats the same as the kid who called his mom because he didn't get picked for kickball. He deserves an ass kicking by his peers.

You did something. Stand up.

carlo.

 

[ServinginEcuador]

Getting put off for three days without pay for playing with some kids!!!!I don't know who is stupider, the person who snitched,or the person who enforced the punishment for doing it!!!!

 

[CRESCENDOPOWER]

Quote:

Originally posted by carlo There's a duality here: as a firefighter you're a public servant, paid for by tax dollars.

Man, you for sure don't live in Illinois. We have a lot more to worry about with our tax dollars than worry about a few fireman playing around with some kids. I might add that Chicago is freaking huge, and these guys risk their life everyday.

 

[carlo]

CRESCENDOPOWER,

Try reading the post again and note that 1) I said I respect and admire most firefighters, and that includes Tuberoller (the very fact he's doing that job takes a lot of courage) 2) I don't think Tuberoller's choice of playing with some kids was wrong, in fact I agree with it.

The quote you picked shows you missed the point, either try again or don't worry about it.

carlo.

 

[00940]

hum, I can see Carlo's point and I would be pissed off to see public servants wasting their time with my money (which happens btw all the time in Belgian administration) but in the case of these firefighters, it's a bit different. These guys can waste all the time they want, I don't care, I just want them ready and on time where there is a problem. If they find an occupation to wait in a less boring way than sitting in the trucks, that's just good for them, where is the problem ? That's not like cops sleeping.

I would even say that childrens playing with public servants is a good thing to create trust on authorities in the population and I'd like this happening with cops too.

In fact, the most stupid thing in there is the reaction of your hierarchy. Why can't they just put the complain in the bottom of huge paper's moutain and let it sleep ?

 

[chadbang]

After September 11, America had some heroes to look up to again - the firefighters who worked valiantly to save others. Children especially need heroes! Who ever suspended that first group of children was a fool. Unbelieveable!! I think your playing with the kids was great. Get your story to the press!

 

[CRESCENDOPOWER]

Quote:

Originally posted by carlo CRESCENDOPOWER, Try reading the post again and note that 1) I said I respect and admire most firefighters, and that includes Tuberoller (the very fact he's doing that job takes a lot of courage) 2) I don't think Tuberoller's choice of playing with some kids was wrong, in fact I agree with it. The quote you picked shows you missed the point, either try again or don't worry about it. carlo.

Yeah Carlo,

I can now see after rereading your post where your comming from. With me, it was more about the word "taxes" that got me. We have a bunch of idiots running our state government, and taxes are a very sensitive topic to people living in Illinois.

 

[Tuberoller]

The last time Firefighters were suspended for this was a few years ago when an engine company was playing soccer with some kids at the beach(not volleyball as told in the news story) after doing beach drills.I know that if I make a big deal about this it will cost me.I'm just sharing my frustration with friends.I know that I am a public servant and I'm aware of the consequences of screwing around on the job.We weren't doing anything anyway and had been sitting there about 20 minutes waiting for the alarm to be striken(called false) allowing us to go back to quarters.Since I was acting as the officer on this shift and I was the first to run off after the rugrats,I am most accountable.I don't blame my superiors for having to enforce the rules.They would never do anything like this if it had not been reported.You guys need to know the lengths this person went to, to report us.He/she had to give descriptions of each of the individual Firefighters as well as the company numbers,location and time of the incident and a faily accurate descriptions of events.This Rat really spent the time and made the effort to throw us across the tracks.This is what I'm so angry about.

 

[carlo]

00940,
Quote:

These guys can waste all the time they want, I don't care, I just want them ready and on time where there is a problem.

Great point. The comparison with a police officer on duty was a counter-argument, ie: I could easily see how someone who saw a bunch of firefighters running down their block would be pissed. My expectation is for that person to ask the firefighters what was going on instead of reporting it to a supervisor, but thats just me.

Tube,

Yeah, you should chase the person down and pelt him with snowballs. On your own time of course

I'm seriously curious about the first part of my post by the way: what would your response have been if the person who made the complaint walked up to you and asked why he saw a bunch of firefighters, in full uniform and obviously on duty, run by his block. Or if he asked if you were on a break?

If I was in your shoes (which I'm obviously not, but we've all had situations that were similar) I wouldn't be all that pissed if the person just talked to me instead of writing a bunch of info in a notepad and making a phone call.

carlo.

 

[CaptBubba]

Unfortunatly some people get a trill out of getting others in trouble. I recently witnessed this where a parking enforcement person would not let a person move their car, even going to to length of standing on front of the car, because a tow truck had been called. This turned a $30 ticket into a $200+ towing fee (in addition to the ticket!). Last time I checked, you can cancel a call for a tow truck. Dam this school and its parking regs, they must make more money off of parking tickets than they do off tuition. Whoever heard of a $120 parking ticket!? [/rant]

Yes I think there is a fine line, and I believe it was crossed in this case. The only thing I can think of is that the person actually believed that there was a fire going on around the corner and that your company was ignoring its job to go play in the snow. I personally would have rushed out to lend assistance to the obviously overpowered kids.

 

[shivohum]

Quote:

I recently witnessed this where a parking enforcement person would not let a person move their car, even going to to length of standing on front of the car, because a tow truck had been called.

Astonishing. I'm inclined to think that this person must have done something to really annoy the parking person. Usually people aren't quite that mean.

 

[CRESCENDOPOWER]

Quote:

Originally posted by CaptBubba Yes I think there is a fine line, and I believe it was crossed in this case.

Well said, and I agree 100%. I would be mad at Fred if he didn't play with them.

 

[squirt]

The person who snitched are way too common these days...they come in a variety of flavors and walks of life and are cousins to the idiots who love to file suit because they just don't realize how stupid they are...Like the case here recently where a young man straddled the Blow Hole (The kind where the ocean waves blast through a tunnel in rocks and burst out like a spout). This 18 year old must have thought it would be really cool to have the spout blast him in the ass...well of course it did, and it also blasted him into the air and he landed head first right into the hole where he fell through never to be seen alive again...The fire fighter divers and helicopter searched for hours for him but realizing the odds it became a recovery search instead of a rescue and his body was recovered in the ocean near the blow hole the next day...Well everyone was thinking it was a tragic but foolish death and the fire fighters did a valiant job of searching for the man in dangerous conditions...what happens next is the father of the dead man files suit a few weeks latter because he claims there weren't enough warning signs to stay away from the blow hole...The poor young man just didn't see the signs so of course he had no choice but to straddle the hole with deadly results...i can just see all the new warning signs that will become law if the state loses this lawsuit...Warning do not run in front of a bus...warning do not eat cyanide...warning do not jump off cliff...Warning do not stick your head in a jet engine...Theres just no end in site being that theres no end to human stupidity...