Conversations that just don't go the way you want them to...

[dougd]

So I spent yesterday afternoon relaxing by the pool in my condo development and enjoying a couple of cold ones with my neighbors. I was wearing an ARFF T-shirt I had swapped a friend one of mine for. I'm in the middle of a conversation when I hear some guy in the pool (a guest of one of my neighbors) ask: "Hey, who's the hose dragger?" I just ignore this and continue my conversation. Again, "I said who's the hose dragger?"

Me: "Well, you're certainly not talking about me, I'm not a firefighter. I traded one of my EMS t-shirts for this one."

Guest: "Who do you work for?"

Me: "I work for [private company x]."

Guest: "Hey! Why the hell do you guys run hot all the time? One of these days when I see you running hot and I'm in my cruiser I'm going to stop you."

Me: "Oh, you're a cop."

Guest: "Yeah, I work for [suburb y]. So, why do you guys feel like you have to run lights and siren to go get a bag of chips at the gas station." Now I'm thinking... great, I've got a suburban cop who weighs at least 350 on a good day talking crap and calling people 'hose dragger.' You have got to be kidding me.

Me: "If you want me to believe that you saw one of our squads running hot to the gas station, why didn't you pull them over or call the company and complain? I'm calling bullsh*t. The last time I ran hot was for a shortness of breath call at a nursing home. 90% of my runs I don't even think of the lights and sirens."

Cop: "Well, see, that's what I don't understand. They've got a nurse there at the nursing home, you don't have to run hot to get there."

Me: "Have you seen the way some of the nursing home staff handles emergent patients?"

Cop: "Yeah, my wife trains them."

:oops:

[Just Plain Ruff]

Cop: "Yeah, my wife trains them

could that be the crux of the issue here?

Maybe that's why they are so terrible where you work!!!!

[Kaisu]

LOL.. that cop aint the sharpest pencil in the box....

and don't worry about educating him because as all of us in EMS know -

you can't fix stupid....

stay safe

[Eydawn]

Oh man... that puts you in a spot where you can either piss off the guy severely by dissing on his wife, or you can shut up and let him feel like the smug arse that he is.

I'd have gone for it, personally... Sometimes it's worth poking the hornet's nest. Who knows, he might've had a cardiac incident from the rage and had to be attended to by your flashy, hose-dragging self..

Wendy

CO EMT-B

[Michael]

Guest: "Who do you work for?"

Me: "Don't you mean 'Whom'?"

Guest: "Hey, you're right! Thanks! Let me buy you a beer!"

[dougd]

Oh man... that puts you in a spot where you can either piss off the guy severely by dissing on his wife, or you can shut up and let him feel like the smug arse that he is.

I'd have gone for it, personally... Sometimes it's worth poking the hornet's nest. Who knows, he might've had a cardiac incident from the rage and had to be attended to by your flashy, hose-dragging self..

Wendy

CO EMT-B

LOL, as amusing as that would have been, I opted instead to tell him that I don't pretend to know how to do is job, that we're all on the same team out there, if he has a problem with one of our crews to call dispatch and I went back to enjoying my nice, sunny afternoon. I certainly wouldn't have tried to start a pissing contest at his house, I'm not sure why he felt the need to do so at mine - but some people are just jack*sses.

[Just Plain Ruff]

could it be that his speedo covered his tiny little wee wee and that he was feeling a little small?

[Richard B the EMT]

Perhaps I am too polite.

With what I have seen, I can only hope these people were NOT trained by your wife, as there's probably going to be an investigation soon, and folks are going to go to jail. Hey, let me get you a beer, and if she's here, one for your wife as well?

[Richard B the EMT]

By the way, what is "ARFF"?

[dougd]

By the way, what is "ARFF"?

Airport Rescue Fire Fighting. The airport maintains their own FD.