Happy Lunar New Year
to you all! This is the year of the PIG and the New Year officially
arrives on February 18, 2007. The Lunar New Year is the most significant
festival in Asian culture and is celebrated by millions of people
around the world. It is a very jubilant occasion mainly because
it is the time when people take a break from work to get together
with family and friends.
For those who were born on the year of the pig (1923,1935, 1947,
1959, 1971, 1983, 1995), you are chivalrous and gallant. Whatever
you do, you do with all your strength. You don't talk much but
have a great thirst for knowledge. They study a great deal and
are generally well informed.
We at FETN would like to take this opportunity to wish you and
yours a healthy, prosperous and happy Lunar New Year!
We finally have our own year . . . the Year of the Pig!!
We Americans don't necessarily consider that a compliment, but
the declaration of the Lunar New Year as the "Year of the
Pig" is more flattering! For those who were born in the year
of the pig, you have many admirable traits (see the other article
in this newsletter that describes it in more detail). What does
this mean to a firefighter?
I do all I can to avoid stereotyping. I don't believe that horoscopes,
ouija boards, séances, and the like are anything we should
be messin' with! I'm going to make an exception here and go for
the positive characteristics that can come our way during 2007,
the "Year of the Pig".
I have followed many a shift where I'd swear that those knuckleheads
on A shift were definitely pigs! I remember once it culminated
in us putting all their dirty dishes into their locker after a
Forcible Entry class. You've had those classes . . . where you
pick the lock on their cabinet and/or refrigerator because there's
something you need out of there, or to put in there. For me, it
was usually ice cream, coming out, not going in. Things going
in were usually alive, like ducks (or dirty dishes). By the way,
I do not recommend you do any of this stuff. It only creates range
wars. (Gerald, wherever you are today, I truly am sorry . . .
and I didn't do it again. Didn't put dirty dishes in your locker
again, that is).
However, that same shift personified some characteristics of
pigs that I admired:
They were pig-headed when it came down to
whether you were allowed to wear your seat belt or not. There
was no negotiation . . . you were going to wear it!
They were chivalrous, doing all they could
to help the "Mrs. Joneses" in our community, and not
just against fire. I saw them fight ice, water, animals, wind,
tornadoes . . . you name it, they were Johnny-on-the-spot to
intervene.
They were gallant, always displaying the utmost
in courtesy and a genuine concern for the people they cared
for, whether it was a fire or EMS call, and whether it was a
first-timer or a frequent-flyer.
Whatever they got in their sites to accomplish,
they went after it to the max! They used their considerable
strength, and applied it wisely, as a direct result of very
good training. Strength under control is a beautiful thing to
behold. My dad once told me, when I was a skinny teenager, "Son,
brute force doesn't accomplish much . . . especially when you
don't have much!"
They were students of our enemy, and knew
a lot about it. Where fire liked to hide in certain building
construction features, how to quickly get life-sustaining oxygenated
air past a compromised airway, what hazardous materials to attack
and which ones to lead the evacuation on, and knew how to use
finesse when they were engaged in any technical rescue. Actually,
as the Lt. on B shift, I stole a lot of their ideas, and took
credit for them! And you know what? There's nothing wrong with
that! (well, maybe the "taking credit for it" is pushing
it a little)
They were well informed, and were a great
source of information on smoke detectors, built-in fire protection,
the latest techniques, and the like.
I've gotta' say, I probably didn't appreciate those guys as much
as I should have. Looking back, when I was calling them "pigs"
back then, I was actually complimenting them more than I meant
to at the time.
How about you? Let's join "those A shift pigs" and
emulate them during this coming year. Let's commit to:
making our first priority our own safety so
we are there for our fellow firefighters and the citizens we
serve when they need us.
going the second mile in serving the people
that are putting the beans on our family's table, respecting
even the ones that try our patience, remembering that their
life is just as important as ours.
immersing ourselves in our profession, so
we can be the best that we can be.
studying the enemy, the one who tries to take
lives and property on our watch, and know how to beat the enemy
at its own game.
be a walking encyclopedia of how to keep fires
from starting, how to detect them early, and how to lessen the
impact if it gets going.
be just as enthusiastic when it comes to doing
the same thing for our community's health, starting with my
own health.
Go get 'em! Heads up, eyes open, ready for anything! (er . .
. let's just keep the duck in the food locker thing between you
and me.)
Chief Geo. Randy Corbin
VP, Government Solutions Group
TWL Knowledge Group Randy.Corbin@TWLK.com
972-309-5701, 800-624-2272, ext. 5701
