The More Things Change, the More They Need to Change

摘要

Last month in this space, I wrote why I thought 2012 would signal the death of the old fire service adage "200 years of tradition unimpeded by progress." I'd like to follow up on that. Whenever I give a presentation at an industry conference, I usually tell the story of when I tried to sign-on with our local volunteer fire department many years ago. I grew up with three brothers, so I was somewhat a tomboy. My father was a lieutenant in the department, and two of my brothers became part of the first cadet program and, eventually, the first career firefighters hired. Just after I got married and moved nearby - and with encouragement from my husband - I went to the fire chief's office to volunteer. I explained why I wanted to be a firefighter, my commitment to the department (I already was in the ladies auxiliary) and my ability do the job. The chief listened, then leaned back in his leather chair, removed the big cigar from his mouth and told me to "go home and have babies." Needless to say, it was not the response I expected or wanted.