As popular as the Firefighter Nation has become, it is still only around 14,000 people out of the million plus firefighters in the United States, not to mention the rest of our brothers across the globe. The 12k who have signed on here are but a scratch on the surface of a bigger universe; they are the responders who have access to computers and choose to spend some time looking around to see what they can see, logging in daily or weekly (or every ten minutes) to share some insight on their views of something they consider important: the emergency response community.

I guess that some of us suppose that by looking at some of the less-than-insightful blogs and posts on here that the fire service is doomed to a future of "hoochie-mamas" and "red light raiders", I'd caution that trusting the sample of individuals represented here would be like saying the one rotten kid in my daughter's first grade class represents the entire doomed future of the Class of 2019. I realize that the numbers are statisically irrelevant.

My point is, however, that although some of YOU suggest that some of US are "Grammar Nazis", it's actually worse: there are those of US who see a number of YOU who in the scheme of things, represent a cross section of the fire service that OTHERS (non-firefighters, better known as "taxpayers", "citizens", or "customers") perceive as being uneducated and unprofessional, which WE don't care to be lumped into. Don't for a minute think that what we see here is the only example of piss-poor communication in the fire service. This is just a very obvious venue with a convenient soapbox to stand on. It is a much more global issue than the Nation, although it doesn't take much looking around to see how bad it is.

I mean, I understand completely that just because some of you choose to post something shallow it doesn't indicate that you are unprofessional, it's just that when you routinely post those shallow things, it's an indicator to the rest of us that you don't have anything of substance to say. You're just taking up bandwidth. Does our industry have time for dabblers and amateurs? I don't have time for them, so don't feel slighted if I ignore your thirty-fourth post on what music you're drowning out your radio reports with.

I work with a certain amount of fire service rock-stars on a regular basis and to be candid, they're reluctant to sign in because of some of what they said they saw from the start. Some of these people are individuals who I have a profound respect and admiration for and I think they'd have a lot to say. Unfortunately, I can see their point, although to me it cheapens and denigrates this Nation that Dave built- that I happen to think is an amazing tool for sharing ideas and getting to know other- and it's why I will continue to come back and rehash these issues over and over again. But I am not going to take up a lot of time debating the merits of "my bubbly personality" or whether the X-Ray 7000 Strobematic will take the paint off the car ahead of me.

Should all of the postings be serious? Certainly not; this is a social network. I'm not serious a lot of the time, although some of you might not realize it. Hey, I've got three kids; I have to be amusing on a regular basis or they'd tie me up and crayon me to death. There are groups on here that I am a member of that are certainly less than fire leadership and tactical discussions; I'm a charter member of the Beer Group and a devoted poster there, and my discussions on Cancel The Engine are certainly tongue-in-cheek a lot of the time. But come on, some of these posts and blogs are killing me. When it boils down to it, it's really a maturity issue. There are those of us who see this as serious business and there are those for whom this is a source of self-promotion.

There are those of us who really and truly care about the fire service and worry that the lack of dedication to the basics is really signaling a trend, a trend we really don't care to see. And given the comments from many posters on here, there is a sincere concern about that in all of our firehouses. However, when I refer to the basics, I'm talking about something even more significant than firefighting basics, I'm referring to the basics of critical thinking and communications.

When I get into this discussion, it is often brought up that just because someone doesn't present their ideas well doesn't mean they have nothing of value to add to the discussion. To that end, I have several ideas. First, if you're assuming that just because someone lacks formal education they have no valuable ideas, I'd say you are dead wrong. My grandfather only had a 9th grade education and went on to be the Chief Fire Marshal for Montgomery County, PA and he was certainly no slouch. The Reverend Howard Finster is another example of someone who had a limited formal education but had much to contribute to society, in his case, through visual media. People may have much to offer and may not be able to communicate it in the ways that you and I traditionally do due to language barriers or inexperience. The difference I see though, is that these individuals have much to provide in original thought, whereas just posting the trivial ("Everone else has a blog, so I kan blog 2") or cutting and pasting thread after thread of lousy doggerel is just taking up space and time. Any idiot can cut and paste and if we really wanted to read it, we'd let you know.

Every trivial post is just another raindrop in the ocean; just an inconsequential splash with little effect, quickly dispersed, easily forgotten. A whole bunch of them together is just static, just noise. An original idea, however, is a wave. It conveys power and motion and beauty. The basis for action is thought; that is, the genesis of a idea which, discussed with others, forms up and rises like that wave as other factors are added in. It creates energy and energy causes change.

If you are reading this, I am probably preaching to the choir. This is aimed at the slack-jawed mouth breathers of our profession who take up the fast lane while looking in the mirror and running their mouths about tradition and valor with no idea what they are talking about. These clowns haven't had a traditional or valiant moment in their lives other than what they can conjure up by slapping on a badge and declaring themselves a hero. We have a calling to reduce human suffering and to protect property; if that isn't a noble goal, I don't know what is. But each of us have a responsibility to look deep in our hearts and ask why we are HERE (in the fire service); is it to fulfill that calling, or is it because I look cool in a uniform? Are you doing anything to reduce human suffering other than taking up a spot on a roster so you can parade around town, or are you looking deep into the needs of our industry to find safer and more efficient ways of doing the job?

I'm not angry- there will always be a need for followers. But in times like these, we need more leaders, in every firehouse in the nation, on this site, in classrooms, and on the fireground. It takes courage to step up and say, "I'm going to do the right thing; it may be hard, I may endure ridicule and hate, but I am going to do the right thing". When we say, "Well, we've been doing it this way for years", listen to yourself. When you say, "I can't be a leader, I'm just a firefighter", remember, you can create change and set the right direction in your own actions, by demonstrating a positive attitude and showing attention to your craft, the ART of firefighting. At some point, if you do that long enough, and seek opportunities to shine by taking on the roles others don't want, you'll find that you become the "go-to" guy/girl and you will become one of those "fire service rock stars". I'll bet if you interview any of them, they weren't knighted or anything; they found a niche, they perfected their skills, and they became the subject matter expert.

I don't anticipate an avalanche of comments on this post because like I said, the believers will read and the non-believers will be drooling on their keyboards between surfing porn. My words are just another couple of thousand bytes in the blogosphere to those people out there and there's nothing I can do to change them. But like I say all the time, if I can win the minds of some other like-minded souls or influence some up-and-comer in the ranks, maybe I'll have made the difference. These words are going to hard for some people because they are the truth; the truth isn't exactly welcome in the fire service or society in general these days. Just like every other generation, we have come to the realization that we are surrounded by the mediocre. Call it cynical, but take a look around and if you can prove me wrong, I'll GLADLY say I am wrong.

Here's your challenge: Do you really want to create meaningful change or are you content to huddle behind the glow of your monitor and pray that no one notices you? If called upon, will you raise your hand or hope someone else gets picked? Let's enter into meaningful dialogue and bring the fire service into the level it should be at, where we do hard, dangerous, and challenging work but we do it safely and while using good planning, excellent tactics, and well-practiced skills. Let's really engage in ways to limit not just the suffering of civilians, but of our families when we make boneheaded mistakes and hurt or kill our people because we didn't train or we took short-cuts or we were so rooted in our past that we neglected to move to the future.

Anyone can do these things, but they require dedication and hard work. That's something I think a lot of people truly don't want to hear.