Halloween
Scary Stuff Halloween is a time when we enjoy a playful little scare and we decide whether or not we will get tricked or have a treat. The other things associated with Halloween are masks, costumes, and ghosts as well as many other scary places and characters. Take a small journey with me this week as we look at some fire service analogies and comparisons to the Halloween season. Scary Places.... A scary place is one where you never know what can happen and when something will jump out and attack you. Huh... I actually know some fire stations where the tension is so thick that it is scary for some employees or members to come to work because they do not know where the next surprise attack will come from. Will it come from management or will it come from another member across the table from me, who might attack me when I leave the room? Hmmm...if your department is this kind of scary place maybe you should shine some light upon those that hide in the dark. Maybe the grapevine and the rumor mill should have a light shined upon it so that it will hide like the bloodsucking vampire that it is. The one that sucks the lifeblood out of good people in an organization. Costumes - A costume is something you wear to either pretend you are something you are not, or something you wear to become something you would like to be. Are there members in our organization that will never be true firefighters and are just wearing the "costume", so they can pretend to be like the others? These folks might be the pretenders in your organization and they should remember one basic premise....The fact that you wear a uniform does not make you a firefighter. That comes from a sense of purpose from within, and a desire to choose this vocation. Beware of people who are in costume only ! Masks - A mask is used to hide someone's true identity. There are people who wear different types of masks in our organizations every day. There are some who pretend to be your friend while hiding the fact that they dislike you or are jealous of your position. There are people who wear masks attempting to be something they are not. They speak of incidents they have never been to, or tell tales of feats and deeds that may not have occurred. There are people who wear masks of bravery and present an outward appearance that may be hiding some personal or professional underlying fears. People in masks can be very scary. Ghosts - These are generally images or figments of things that have passed along or who are no longer with us. The fire service knows many ghosts and they are not all like Casper the friendly ghosts. Some of the ghosts are very scary. All firefighters carry with them some of the ghosts of victims that did not survive a specific incident either fire, rescue or otherwise. These ghosts are usually stored somewhere away in the mind's closet but they can occasionally get out and scare the hell out of us. There are also traditional ghosts of the way an organization used to do things and even though those methods are dead and buried, these ghosts of the "way we used to do it" come forward and scare us. There are the ghosts of the firefighters who have died in the line of duty. These ghosts should be scary to us and serve as a reminder that we should actually always be diligent before we become a ghost ourselves. So....If we are in a position of leadership within our department or even if we are just a firefighter what do we do about all of these things? Well if you are a member, make sure you do what you can to be inclusive to all members. If you are an officer do not tolerate your workplace to become a 'scary place" for any single member. NOT ONE! A firehouse should be a place where everybody wants to come to work. Kill rumors before they suck the blood out of your organization. The second one is simple and I have beat it to death in these columns. Be a firefighter. Don't just wear a costume. Even if you try to wear "the costume" people will know the difference. The costume could be a uniform, a set of trumpets for rank, or the gear you had to let someone borrow to get dirty for you because you haven't made the threshold yet. The issue of masks is also simple in my mind. Be yourself, as a firefighter or as an officer and let people know you are human and fallible like them. Admit your mistakes, and learn with your troops how to be better. If you see someone wearing their own protective mask, get them in private and help them to un mask so they can be themselves instead of pretending they are something they are not. Ghosts will always be the symbol of things that are scary and spooky. Try to be conscious of those who have passed on before us. Remember those and learn lessons from them. Understand about the ghosts of the victims that have been lost. Know where they are in your mind and actually let them out once in a while. If you know they are there and you are familiar with them then you will be less scared each and every time they come out and sneak up on you. If there others in your organization who have those ghosts and they are scared of them, then be there to help them understand them and deal with them like you. Ghosts are not really scary if there is somebody right there next to you. In fact most things are not that scary if there is somebody else with you. Never let anyone on your job be alone either personally or professionally. Have fun stay safe and if you want to be terrified, think of me as being in charge of your crew....that should scare you enough! Send your comments, thoughts or items you would like to see published here to info@petelamb.com. or pete@petelamb.com Your opinion matters! (To us anyway) |
