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Had To Share This: My reply to Gantenbeins Article
I wrote this in November of 2003, in reply to an article written by Douglass Gantenbein, which insulted every firefighter everywhere.
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Subject: You got a lotta nerve buster...
From: FirefighterWidow
Date: Nov 5 2003 10:16PM
Exactly who the hell do you think you are? Firefighting can be a dangerous, hence my nickname FIREFIGHTER WIDOW. He died saving someone's ass like yours, only they were thankful they had their "cushy butts" out there to save them and their family. Yeah, so what if they have a cushy job, 24 hours at a time, have you actually EVER been on a shift for 24 hours? Ever seen them really in action fighting a fire, brush fire, burning building, a bad MVA? Of course not, you're too busy being self-righteous in your office in the air conditioning judging people you know absolutely shit about. They have mundane lives and sometimes their jobs can be tedious but when they are in action and their shifts are packed with not only calls but med calls as well, they are doing what they love the best. And so what if they are adrenaline junkies? SO are storm chasers and if it weren't for them, we wouldn't know what we know about tornadoes and severe weather but I don't see you shoving a pissy article up their butts. SO what's up. did you apply for a fireman's job and get turned down? Someone reply to your personal and tell you no thanks I prefer heroic men like policemen and firefighters not ignorant ass writers like you? Might I suggest therapy? Or maybe a few lessons in humility? And before you go spouting off about the 9-11 thing, you can take those comments and stick them in your left ear sideways bub, I was there from when the first plane hit until the second building fell and I saw heroism that would make anyone proud. And I am not just saying that because I am a firefighter widow, firefighters are different creatures, they thrive on something completely different than, say, your average fat bon-bon eating stupidass writers. When your smirky lily white ass is running out of your house while it is burning up, those cushy firefighters are running in past you, shoving you out of the way and getting to the heart of the fire so they can save that computer you write nasty little things about them with. Ok, so with all the lip flapping you've done, and the fat little fingers you've hammered out that article with, let me get this straight; if your house is actually burning down or your car is on fire, they can casually saunter over from their "cushy" jobs and eventually take care of the fire while they priss and preen (according to you) and pump adrenaline all over the place so they can prove you right in the first place? Listen, I know your Speak'N'Spell is probably broken so let me put it this way, you wouldn't have a frickin clue what it takes to be a true fireman, even if someone searched their couch cushions for change to buy you a clue. And the day I will take back what I say is the day I see your holier-than-thou ass fighting a fire in Florida weather in full bunker gear and have to pull out a fellow fireman who died while putting out a fire. Oh wait, they don't make helmets for heads as big as yours....such a shame for someone who is supposed to be intelligent. (Key word being intelligent and that is giving you the benefit of the doubt). Until then, you can kiss my entire ass and I don't care who sees this, you yought to be ashamed. What's next? The soldiers in Iraq? You are a complete idiot.
FSFA Member, Firefighter Widow & 9-11 survivor
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Subject: You got a lotta nerve buster...
From: FirefighterWidow
Date: Nov 5 2003 10:16PM
Exactly who the hell do you think you are? Firefighting can be a dangerous, hence my nickname FIREFIGHTER WIDOW. He died saving someone's ass like yours, only they were thankful they had their "cushy butts" out there to save them and their family. Yeah, so what if they have a cushy job, 24 hours at a time, have you actually EVER been on a shift for 24 hours? Ever seen them really in action fighting a fire, brush fire, burning building, a bad MVA? Of course not, you're too busy being self-righteous in your office in the air conditioning judging people you know absolutely shit about. They have mundane lives and sometimes their jobs can be tedious but when they are in action and their shifts are packed with not only calls but med calls as well, they are doing what they love the best. And so what if they are adrenaline junkies? SO are storm chasers and if it weren't for them, we wouldn't know what we know about tornadoes and severe weather but I don't see you shoving a pissy article up their butts. SO what's up. did you apply for a fireman's job and get turned down? Someone reply to your personal and tell you no thanks I prefer heroic men like policemen and firefighters not ignorant ass writers like you? Might I suggest therapy? Or maybe a few lessons in humility? And before you go spouting off about the 9-11 thing, you can take those comments and stick them in your left ear sideways bub, I was there from when the first plane hit until the second building fell and I saw heroism that would make anyone proud. And I am not just saying that because I am a firefighter widow, firefighters are different creatures, they thrive on something completely different than, say, your average fat bon-bon eating stupidass writers. When your smirky lily white ass is running out of your house while it is burning up, those cushy firefighters are running in past you, shoving you out of the way and getting to the heart of the fire so they can save that computer you write nasty little things about them with. Ok, so with all the lip flapping you've done, and the fat little fingers you've hammered out that article with, let me get this straight; if your house is actually burning down or your car is on fire, they can casually saunter over from their "cushy" jobs and eventually take care of the fire while they priss and preen (according to you) and pump adrenaline all over the place so they can prove you right in the first place? Listen, I know your Speak'N'Spell is probably broken so let me put it this way, you wouldn't have a frickin clue what it takes to be a true fireman, even if someone searched their couch cushions for change to buy you a clue. And the day I will take back what I say is the day I see your holier-than-thou ass fighting a fire in Florida weather in full bunker gear and have to pull out a fellow fireman who died while putting out a fire. Oh wait, they don't make helmets for heads as big as yours....such a shame for someone who is supposed to be intelligent. (Key word being intelligent and that is giving you the benefit of the doubt). Until then, you can kiss my entire ass and I don't care who sees this, you yought to be ashamed. What's next? The soldiers in Iraq? You are a complete idiot.
FSFA Member, Firefighter Widow & 9-11 survivor
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Paul Montpetit on
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Hmmmm Rebecca.....what is it you were trying to say...?? LOL.....Honey (please excuse the term) you have to learn to let it out a little.....LOL Don't hold it back so much......Paul......My thoughts and prayers are with you and I as a Brother to your husband share your loss....He is surely in Heaven as he saw his time in hell.......Rest well my Brother
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Permalink Reply by Rebecca on
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He didn't reply he wussed out. I expected it becasue he caught a shitstorm for it.
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Thanks for your reply. I was very pissed when I read his article. That was in 2003 and I have mellowed over the years now, but anyone who would say something like that now would elicit the same response from me.
Haha yeah I know I should really say what I mean...
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Permalink Reply by blair4630 on
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Have not read any responses, just your letter....
Obviously this guy has struck a nerve with you.
A) Who is he?
B) Is there a link to whatever it is he wrote so we can all read it?
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I posted the question, then I got impatient and got off my lazy ass and searched for the answer.
http://www.slate.com/id/2090573/
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Permalink Reply by Smoke Eater on
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Wow! It was all I could do to finish the article. Let's see him get out of bed at 3 am in sub-zero temps to fight a working house fire and finally get to leave 8 or 9 hrs. later. Then chip the ice off of his gear to get it off and get all of the equipment back in service for the next call. Oh yeah, also having to go to work at his full time job as soon as he gets done at the station. What an idiot.
As for you Rebecca, I am deeply sorry for your loss. Just know that he and God will always be with you.
Take care girl.
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Thank you very much, you guys are the reason I made it out of that terrible period in my life. We are all family and we all watch out for each other no matter what. Thank you for the kind words.
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We always will be.
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Permalink Reply by lutan1 on
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There's no doubt that this dip shit has no clue on many aspects of the job, however how about we take the emotion out of what he is saying and look at some of it obejectively? And I've no doubt this will inflame some people, but if we're going to post this up for discussion, lets look at both sides?
But the "hero" label is tossed around a little too often when the subject is firefighting.
I agree and has been discussed a lot here and other sites, by FF's who agree.
the long days off give many firefighters a chance to start second careers.
I've known firefighters who moonlighted as builders, photographers, and attorneys.
Who's going to dispute that? Many I know consider the FD as the second job.
firefighting doesn't make the Department of Labor's 2002 list of the 10 most dangerous jobs in America.
Statistically he's probably right. Doesn't mean it's not dangerous- it simply means we often mitigate those risks with proper PPE, training, equipment, etc.
And fatalities, when they occur in firefighting, often are due to heart attacks and other lack-of-fitness problems, not fire.
Can't argue that.
It is a heavily unionized occupation. Nothing's wrong with that, but let's not assume they're always acting in anything but their own best interests.
It IS heavily unionized in many areas of the world. And there's no doubt that at times, the unions interests are questionable. aAnd don't slug me for this- I've been a union Organizer. I've seen it first hand.
In Seattle not long ago a squabble broke out between police and firefighters when both were called to the scene of a capsized dinghy in a lake. The firefighters put a diver in the water, a police officer on the scene ordered him out to make way for a police team, and all hell broke loose (yes, the cops were at fault, too). The dispute wasn't over public safety,
Gee, sounds like a long winded discussion that took place on this site about the PD entering buildings before the FD got there. Was it really about the glory, or the preservation of life?
None of this is meant to dispute that firefighters are valuable to the communities in which they work. They are. But our society is packed with unheralded heroes—small-town physicians, teachers in poverty-stricken neighborhoods, people who work in dirty, dangerous jobs like coal-mining to support a family. A firefighter plunging into a burning house to retrieve a frightened, smoke-blinded child is a hero. But let's save the encomiums for when they are truly deserved, not when they just show up to do their job.
Nuff said. This hero label has been bantered around too easily and for too long. Search the forums on this and other sites- it's heavily discussed and many FF's agree....
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Permalink Reply by Art "ChiefReason" Goodrich on
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I not only got a reply...
I got the interview: http://www.firefighternation.com/profiles/blogs/889755:BlogPost:240185
His timing was bad and he may have poorly chosen his words, but if you read his book, "A Season of Fire", you see where his perspective may have come from.
I'm not saying it's right; I'm just sayin'...
TCSS.
Art
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Yes I never argued Art, that the label "hero" was thrown around too much. I Just took offense at the attack on these men and their choice of career, especially having been around them for so long. One of my former best friends is a lifelong firefighter, and I have been told & told myself, stories that most people would never be able to comprehend, and personally been at MVAs that were horrible, train vs vehicle anyone? I will give him that a portion of his words and charges were true or even arguable. But for the most part he generalized and true, did choose POOR words. It caught me at a bad time and someone like this spouting a bunch of bullshit pissed me off. Having been around a lot of volunteer firefighters and yes I know a portion of them are out of shape overweight and ticking timebombs, but they don't hesitate when their pagers or phones go off and haul ass to the station, in the middle of a kids play, during dinner, taking a shower and yes many sex sessions, but the fact remains that they still do. Thus Gantenbein and his inflammatory article stuck a nerve, I agree. Maybe he should of chosen his words more carefully, being a fellow writer I know this for a fact. Should I have waited to cool down before I wrote mine? Practice what I preach? Maybe, but Gantenbein had all the time in the world and he still chose to deliver that article. I don't know what else to say so there's my piece.
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