Breaking: 18 Members of Prescott Hot Shot Fire Fighter Team Killed Fighting Wildfire
07-01-2013, 05:34 PM
Tragic and sad.
But another tragic (and less obvious) part of this is that it's going to re-ignite the overblown and played-out hero-worship for firefighters (no pun intended). It should come as no surprise that so many firefighters are some of the most self-important dicks I've ever encountered--especially since 9-11, which, odds are, they had nothing to do with personally. I won't be surprised if a firefighter were to break his arm reaching over to pat his own back and people were quick to declare that an act of heroism.
They're no more heroes than the guy who paved the street, maintains the stop lights, and services the trucks that got them there. As for the "they put their lives on the line every day" mythology, so do electric line workers, coal miners, fishermen, and an array of other important, essential, but less romantic jobs. If they're not heroes, neither are firefighters.
Note: I never said this event wasn't tragic, that I'm glad they died, that there weren't individual acts of heroism in this particular incident, or that I "sided with the terrorists on 9-11." I'm just saying a whole profession isn't automatically heroic. Dying on the job isn't necessarily heroic--it's tragic--but it's not necessarily an act of heroism.
But another tragic (and less obvious) part of this is that it's going to re-ignite the overblown and played-out hero-worship for firefighters (no pun intended). It should come as no surprise that so many firefighters are some of the most self-important dicks I've ever encountered--especially since 9-11, which, odds are, they had nothing to do with personally. I won't be surprised if a firefighter were to break his arm reaching over to pat his own back and people were quick to declare that an act of heroism.
They're no more heroes than the guy who paved the street, maintains the stop lights, and services the trucks that got them there. As for the "they put their lives on the line every day" mythology, so do electric line workers, coal miners, fishermen, and an array of other important, essential, but less romantic jobs. If they're not heroes, neither are firefighters.
Note: I never said this event wasn't tragic, that I'm glad they died, that there weren't individual acts of heroism in this particular incident, or that I "sided with the terrorists on 9-11." I'm just saying a whole profession isn't automatically heroic. Dying on the job isn't necessarily heroic--it's tragic--but it's not necessarily an act of heroism.