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Glory Seekers
like most of you I don't do this for the glory, I do it to help a neighbor in need. So when someone sees me in f.d. clothing and calls me a glory seeker it really bothers me. Yes it is nice to be
recognized once and awhile for the hundreds of things we do a year but thats not why I do it. I was wondering how you deal with people like that and if there are people on your depts. who do it for the glory???
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Norm Tindell on
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We don't have anyone on our department (There are only 34 of us.) who does it for glory. And I won't wear any of these t-shirts that have the word "hero' on them. That would be an embarrasment.
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Permalink Reply by Jack/dt on
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To me it begs the question(s): Where were you and what were you doing?
Sorry but I just can not imagine someone, out of the blue, going up to a person (vollie) and calling them a glory seeker. Sounds more to me like they have some issue either with your department in general or perhaps you in particular. Are there other details you'd like to share with the class?
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Permalink Reply by Zachary A. Batchelder on
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i had never met this person before, i had stopped into a local gas station to get a soda, i said nothin to him or anyone else . I was wearing a 1/4 zip sweatshirt that on the left said O.F.D and on the right stated my name and posistion. and he said "oh, i see your a glory seeker" so i paid for my stuff and left without speaking.
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Permalink Reply by Loyd Dittfurth on
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I personally have some Fire related shirts. I dont wear any that say "IM A FARAFITER" I do have some that I believe I earned them.
other that I dont really like to advertise what I do. I dont think that many people understand by wearing a fd shirt you might aswell be wearing a bullseye on your back for the spotlight.
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Permalink Reply by Lani on
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Personally I don't put too much into what other people's opinions are in regards to my reasons for joining the Fire Department...especially those that don't know me. Those who care and who are close to me know I joined to help my community....those that don't know me, don't know my reasons...and to the ones that would just assume because I proudly wear my District uniform that I'm a "Glory Seeker" could never understand my reasons.
Yes, I do own some "Fire" Tee-shirts that are humorous, witty, etc we've all seen them (and I'd guess we all have at least one in our closet or dresser) I like wearing them when I go work out, it is my little motivation I guess.....there's nothing wrong with that either in my eyes. How many people take pride in their jobs the way we do? Perhaps that is why they feel they need to degrade us to "glory seekers" and "BRT junkies" etc.
Next time just smile and say thank you.
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Permalink Reply by Russ on
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i remember early in my carrear being told that glory seekers or medal whores will get you killed. yes, its nice to be recognized once and a while but a "thank you" or "good job" goes a long way too...and sorry-the testostrone shirts are my one weakness
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Permalink Reply by Derek R. on
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I Have a coat that has our dept. logo on the front. I wear that. I have dept. shirts that I wear to FF functions such as trainings when away. That way other FF can see where you are from. I don't own the other shirts because, frankly, I won't wear them and it doesn't make sense to have something and not use it. I have no issue with someone wearing certain shirts with funny FF sayings on them. It's their own personal way of expression. Who am I to judge that. It is the one's that wear the shirts, pants, ball hats and have their pagers clipped to their shirt pockets or suspenders as well as having their radio either slung over their shoulder or clipped to their belt that has the ungodly oversized FF buckle. But to lable as "glory hound" seems wrong. " Attention hound" would be more suitable.
It depends on one's personal perception of "glory" whether to be upset or content with being labled "Glory Hound". I found this quote by John McCain, “Glory is not a conceit. It is not a decoration for valor. Glory belongs to the act of being constant to something greater than yourself, to a cause, to your principles, to the people on whom you rely and who rely on you in return.”. Then I asked myself, Am I a glory hound? And by going with that idea of "glory", then my answer is yes. But only I will know that; nobody else can possibly know. And if someone were to say I was a glory hound, I would thank them for noticing.
That's the funny thing with the English language. One word can mean several things or ideas, and one person can take offense to something that was meant to be a compliment, just by the different understandings of the word.
If someone feels the need to judge you based on your clothes, then, I feel, they are not worth responding to. Dang, it must be time for bed.
KSHF
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Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on
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I was wearing a 1/4 zip sweatshirt that on the left said O.F.D and on the right stated my name and posistion. and he said "oh, i see your a glory seeker" so i paid for my stuff and left without speaking.
First off, why let the comment bother you, and so much so you need to vent here? If that was me, I would have said, "nope, just proud".
I really don't have an issue with professional attire. The shirt you describe would be what we call a job shirt and we only wear it while on duty. We have off duty shirts that are sold to others and for off duty wear, along with our union shirts depicting who we work for. I personally would NOT be wearing a shirt with my name on it while off duty, but we are a career dept, not volly.
I have plenty of FF shirts, many from places I have visited, and off duty ones. There is no doubting, if one were to visit, I'm either a FF or a buff, but I don't see that as glory hounding, or even attention seeking. To me, wearing a FD shirt is no big deal, it is really no different than wearing your favorite sports team apparel, etc. I'm not a fan of the "I fight what you fear" or similar shirts, but a more professional attire. It is not the shirt that makes the person, it is the attitude in which you are portrayed while wearing one.
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Permalink Reply by Paul Montpetit on
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I ignore them for I find that you can't fix stupid.......
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Permalink Reply by blair4630 on
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Yes glory seekers are in every dept. Nothing you can do about that. They tell their stories and pound their chests. The only good thing is everyone knows they're a joke. That is just part of the territory. As far as being called a glory seeker, by the general public just for being a firefighter, I've never experienced that. Although I can relate in a round-a-bout sort of way...I've been given slack about wasting tax dollars for sitting around with another crew at an outdoor patio type place in the summer time, when they have no idea if we just ran 7 runs that evening, all the paperwork, cleanup, reports, etc. etc. etc. I've also been called a "baby-killer" for being in the military....and also compared to a welfare recipient for being in the military...
My advice is this.........f**k em'.
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I wrote my post here before reading the other threads, so refer to my post, but yes....I have experiened completely random, completely unprovoked B.S. from people for my EMS and military service. Without knowing Zachary, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume there is nothing else to the story, because it's happened to me.
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