Afterward, back in their pajamas, the young men gathered in the station’s control room. The chief’s son wrote up the report: furnace malfunction in the basement, no injuries, no damage. Then the bantering began — about girlfriends, the holidays and work.
This all-volunteer fire station and the two others in Shippensburg, a factory and university town of about 5,500 people in a central Pennsylvania valley, are vestiges of the past. Firefighters sit around on weekdays playing rummy, and people gather for bingo Friday nights. Yet, the stations are much quieter than they were decades ago, when they felt like the center of the town. And as the community’s interests have shifted from the fire stations, the number of volunteers has fallen.
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Publishers Notes: Funny, no mention of departments like Salisbury discouraging volunteers in order to achieve a fully stocked PAID fire department.
2 comments:
The recruits are treated really bad at every firehouse that I've been through. Some call it hazing or paying their dues, but it really serves no purpose other than to belittle those that aren't "real" firemen. Delmar is by far the worst redneck infested firehouse around when you aren't respected as a person that is volunteering their time to serve their hometown but instead are treated as someone that they have to "deal" with until you get pushed out. There are social niches everywhere you go, and that will never change, but every person should be treated as a human and not be subjected to abuse from these rednecks just because of who is in your family. None of us get to pick our parents or siblings and shouldn't be looked down upon for their family's tainted past, instead, you should be judged on your own merrit and accomplishments. Nobody wants to go through this crap just to get a $500 tax credit.
Go to Smyrna De where there is a 2 year wait list to get in and see what they are doing.
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