Do you still love the job? Why or why not.

If you have been doing this job long enough, then you have had a time that you didn't love the job the way you used to. Why? Do you remember? Was it administration? The crew you were with? Changes in policy or the way your department does business?

What did you do to get past that time?

Did somebody help you, and what did they do?

Did your officer help you? What did they do to help?

Please share your information. You may not think it matters but someone could be looking for an answer. Share your story. I will leave mine soon.

Thanks for reading,

Brian

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Permalink Reply by B HICKS on June 11, 2012 at 12:57pm

After 29 years on the job, as either a volley, part-time, and career I would have to say I love the "friendships" that I have experienced with guys at the fire house. I still enjoy training to "be the best I can be". I enjoy the adrenaline rush from a "ball bustin", strategical challenging emergency operation. What I have grown "discussed" with is the political "cut-throat" atmosphere that started largely outside of the department, by elected public officials that believe firefighters are not needed on a daily basis, and should not be paid. They refuse to think that our careers are that technical. The mentality that being an elected public official is more important then a paramedic saving a person from a heart attack, or a firefighter extricating a severely injured person is "beyond me"......

With the declining budgets, now the fire administration is being "tugged" at politically from both directions. It seems for the most part that the politicians are winning the battle, and fire administration (not everywhere), and that fire administration is not trying to "educate" these "short-sighted", "self-supporting" politicians.

The fire service has changed a lot during my tenure, in someways good (technology, apparatus, PPE), and some not to good (increased frequent flyers, dog and pony shows, limiting grocery shopping with the apparatus). If anything is true in the fire service, we continue to try an "re-invent" the same old ideas.....

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Permalink Reply by Bob Callahan on June 11, 2012 at 4:46pm

And that's cool.

You still have the desire to go interior. I go interior when there is a need, but don't necessarily feel that same desire.

On my combo department we have plenty of young kids that have enough time under thier belts to begin to assume leadership roles, and there is a time when the oldder folks need to look to the future and see that the time for these youngins' to get that leadership experience is before we leave rather than when we leave. Unfortunatly, that, as I have said before, is not the case on my VFD where we still need all the manpower we can get and most of the young kids are not ready to be a leadership position as of yet. I've been at this for 33 years and will be quite happy when I can ride a pump panel or an exterior command/control position all the time, but unfortuanatly, my VFD ain't at that point yet.

I'm very happy with what I have contributed, and still contribute on the supppression/fireground side. I enjoy my role as a trainer. And I enjoy my primarily non-interior role on my combo department. I do plan on staying in the fire service as long as possible hoever I have accepted that I need to change my roles to, let the kids come up and take my place.

Do you still love the job? Why or why not.

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