Where I grew up the fire station was all volunteer. They put on a pancake breakfast once a year to raise money, everyone was there.

Young and naive, I thought SERVING as fireman was some sort of calling, respected in the community, compensated enough to make ends meet, but the compensation would have been the 3nd, 4rd, or 5th reason for choosing the career path.

Today, if I was in her shoes, I’d do the same thing. How times have changed and I’m only 34.

However jaded and cynical I have become, I could never have sat through interview after interview for promotion, spewing about how my subordinates and our city are so important to me, only to go out when it best suit me. I would prefer to retire a lowly captain self-respect intact.