Hey all,
I just thought I would pass along a story to you. I was over and my Aunt and Uncle's today to take the girls for a swim. When I got there my Uncle wasn't home, he's a Vancouver Fire Captain and between my shifts and his, we never know who's working and who's not.
So as luck would have it just as we were getting ready to leave he comes home. I ask about the day, in that way we all do - "Busy today?" He says, "not bad", and tells me that he was working for one of the new guys whose sick leave had run out.
Seeing my confusion, (capt working for new guy??) he continues to tell me that one of the new guys was in a car accident and his sick time had run out, and I guess to keep him off LTD (long term dsiability which is much lower than full pay!) everyone in the firehall covers one of his shifts, including the Captains. He laughed, and said that he found one of his old "blue" shirts and went to work as just one of the guys! He had just spent a day working for free, so a brother fighter wouldn't lose a days pay. He then told me that after everyone in the hall does their day, which takes about two months, the guy gets transferred to a new hall. This will buy the guy about year to recover and get back to work.
Now, that is one of the best examples of the brother/sisterhood shared by emergency response personel I've ever seen. (Mind you these are the same bunch that stood out on the street corners after 911 filling their boots up with cash to send to New York)
SB
I just thought I would pass along a story to you. I was over and my Aunt and Uncle's today to take the girls for a swim. When I got there my Uncle wasn't home, he's a Vancouver Fire Captain and between my shifts and his, we never know who's working and who's not.
So as luck would have it just as we were getting ready to leave he comes home. I ask about the day, in that way we all do - "Busy today?" He says, "not bad", and tells me that he was working for one of the new guys whose sick leave had run out.
Seeing my confusion, (capt working for new guy??) he continues to tell me that one of the new guys was in a car accident and his sick time had run out, and I guess to keep him off LTD (long term dsiability which is much lower than full pay!) everyone in the firehall covers one of his shifts, including the Captains. He laughed, and said that he found one of his old "blue" shirts and went to work as just one of the guys! He had just spent a day working for free, so a brother fighter wouldn't lose a days pay. He then told me that after everyone in the hall does their day, which takes about two months, the guy gets transferred to a new hall. This will buy the guy about year to recover and get back to work.
Now, that is one of the best examples of the brother/sisterhood shared by emergency response personel I've ever seen. (Mind you these are the same bunch that stood out on the street corners after 911 filling their boots up with cash to send to New York)
SB
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