. . . I wanna be a fireman! That’s not a declaration I ever said when I was little. But lately, I’m wishing I had considered it way back then. I’ve just discovered Chicago Fire in syndication, and it has me thinking that being a firefighter would be awesome. But, because I can’t roll back the clock, what can I do with these firefighter feelings now?
Lighting a Fire
Even though I can’t become a firefighter now, maybe I can use some firefighter motivation. On TV, the firefighters may be afraid, but they always charge into a fire regardless. I like that idea—it’s not that we need to be completely fearless in our lives, we just can’t let fear stop us from doing what needs to be done. Maybe we’re not in a situation that calls for us to rush into a burning building, but whatever the metaphorical fire in our lives, we don’t have to let it stop us from doing what needs to be done.
Stop, Drop, and Roll
Honestly, it amazes me how many times we have to shout at the TV when someone is portrayed as literally on fire—stop, drop, and roll! Didn’t everyone learn that when they were little??? I know I did. In elementary school, it was one of the lessons taught to us when we visited the firehouse. (We also got to take turns holding onto the hose and trying to shoot the water high enough to reach the American flag in front of the building—no one succeeded in doing that, but it was fun anyway).
Apparently, safety lessons need to be repeated indefinitely. You cannot take for granted that the next generation will have learned something as simple as stop, drop, and roll. Whether it’s fire safety, plant safety, jobsite safety, or something else, we have to repeat the warnings that we think have become obvious, because they will never be obvious to everyone. There will always be a learning curve for someone, and it is better to be redundant than to be neglectful.