yesterday was rough, but who am I to complain?

[marathoner452]

Another day, another fire call. I wonder if it gets any easier to watch after you've been on more of them. Somehow I doubt it. And what always gets me is that they want you to save the money, clothes, teddy bears, whatever for people "who really need it." Even after having lost pretty much everything they owned, they stop and think of others. My first fire call was about a month after Katrina-we had to convince them that their needs were just as great as those of each family affected by the hurricane. The main difference is in the scale of the disaster, not in the amount of need each person has.

Yeesh, that house was still burning when we got there. I swear it takes days for me to stop smelling the smoke. I don't know, maybe you get used to dealing with that for awhile.

On the other hand, I had a lot of fun with my flood safety presentation yesterday. What I did NOT have fun with was the accident-induced traffic on 15 on the way home. The plus side of that was that I had lots of extra time to listen to The Grapes of Wrath (which is further stoking my sense of social justice, but more on that when I finish and post a review).

~Bethany

PS-We're having California Tortilla for lunch. I love that stuff. Esp. the Havana Chicken burrito.

Comments

[marathoner452.livejournal.com]

I work for the Red Cross in Frederick County, Maryland. I mostly do community disaster education (this month I'm teaching kids about floods), but I'm also trained to respond to fires. We make sure the families have food, clothes, a place to spend the night, moral support, etc. We even give the kids teddy bears. :-)

~Bethany

[angelchild.livejournal.com]

Oh wow..... *bows graciously*

What a fantastic job, it must be sooo rewarding!