Thanks to all who keep us safe, comfortable & healthy
It really is pretty easy to forget about first-responders. We all rush around with our chaotic lives, seamlessly moving from home to work or school and back again down familiar trails. Seldom are we worried that we won’t make it safely wherever we are going.
While teaching at the police academy, I like to ask the recruits -- who are doing their very best to become salty old veterans in the shortest possible time -- if we are winning the war on crime. Most of them, trying to march in the footsteps of the cynical veteran police officers they have known and to maintain the tough guy persona, will invariably raise their hand when I ask, “Who thinks we are losing the war?” Few will raise their hand when I ask if we are winning the war.
I then ask them if they had a good night’s sleep. Did they worry about someone breaking in to their home and killing them or at least robbing them of their valuables? Most will answer, “No.”
Did they worry while driving to the academy that morning that they would be robbed or hijacked? Did they worry about their car parked in the parking lot either being stolen or broken into? On their way to the academy that morning were the roads relatively clear? Did they encounter any people rioting in the streets or burning buildings and angry mobs? They are forced to admit that none of these perils were encountered while travelling to the police academy that morning.
Being a glass half full kind of optimist, I then inform them to knock off all the gloom. If we are not winning the war on crime, we are at least holding our own.
We lose battles along the way. Sometimes the guilty may not get immediately punished and we lose a battle here and there, but we are winning the war on crime if citizens by in large feel safe. Ours is not a perfect criminal justice system, but I propose that it is still the best on the planet.
Which leads me back to all of the first-responders and not just the cops this time. Whether they be police, fire, emergency medical services (including the doctors, nurses, technicians and ward clerks) or utility workers called in the dark of night, we should all thank our luck stars there are those who forego working day jobs and keep us safe 24/7, 365 days a year.
It is most evident that we need these first-responders when a calamity or tragedy knocks us off our gerbil wheel of modern existence and forces us to call 9-1-1 for ourselves or for our loved ones. When routine is shattered by the unthinkable that is supposed to happen to the other guy or someone even more distant on the evening news, the first-responders are worth their weight in gold -- even at today’s prices.
As I write this, a loved one of mine is somewhere between the emergency room and the neurology unit. The unthinkable we know in the back of our mind could happen, but because it hasn’t for so many days of our lives, we cast the thought aside.
This is my personal thanks to the first-responders who helped my family this week. Thank you to the professionals who answered our calls for help in the 9-1-1 dispatch centers. Thanks to the firefighters, emergency medical technicians and paramedics who safely bundled my loved one up and got her to the very capable hands of the doctors, nurses and technicians in the emergency room.
Lastly a very special thanks to a co-worker who called to make sure I knew that calamity had come calling close to home and to the firefighter who called while I waited in the emergency room. Those gestures may have taken only moments for you both to perform, but the memory will last a lifetime for me. My humblest thanks to all who were involved with those calls.
For those reading, please take a lesson from me and appreciate the dedicated first-responders gracing us in Washtenaw County. Support them and remember they will always do their best for you, especially when you need them most.
To all the first responders and those who keep us safe, comfortable and healthy 24/7 365 days a year: THANK YOU & STAY SAFE.
Lock it up, don’t leave it unattended, be aware and watch out for neighbors.
Rich Kinsey is a retired Ann Arbor police detective sergeant who now blogs about crime and safety for AnnArbor.com. He also serves as the Crime Stoppers coordinator for Washtenaw County.
Comments
Mike
Sun, Aug 21, 2011 : 1:02 a.m.
Sorry, no feeling here to worship cops bloated salaries and inflated pensions. Fire some more of them. It's not like they caught the rapist. And, they're still running speed traps.
anti-thug
Thu, Aug 18, 2011 : 6:34 p.m.
everyday I see a police car in city of Ann Arbor it make feel better and safer as walk the streets. one issue is angry homeless people down sometime they yell at people
anti-thug
Thu, Aug 18, 2011 : 6:32 p.m.
I'm hoping even with cuts in police that we still have some good officers
Alan Goldsmith
Thu, Aug 18, 2011 : 5 p.m.
"To all the first responders and those who keep us safe, comfortable and healthy 24/7 365 days a year: THANK YOU & STAY SAFE." And no thanks to all Ann Arbor policitians who show them no respect, tell them they are overpaid, insult them for political gain and are more interested in other 'priorities' than public safety.
Edward R Murrow's Ghost
Thu, Aug 18, 2011 : 2:31 p.m.
snoop wrote: "Getting rather tired of the bloviating that takes place here regularly regarding cops. At least this time he included nurses, doctors etc. I am not very thankful when I get a speeding ticket for going 30 mph ( on a downhill) in a 25 mph zone and the cop says no breaks." I know no-one who has been ticketed for going 5mph or less over the speed limit, with the exception noted below. Yes, I know drivers who have received tickets saying they were doing 5mph or less over the speed limit, but officers, almost always, write tickets for substantially less that what the driver was doing, thereby saving the driver a fair piece of change. The only exception to this rule is when the person who has been pulled over gets belligerent. In that case, the bloviator gets a ticket for exactly what they were doing (e.g., doing 30 in a 25). Don't want a ticket? 1) Don't speed. 2) Treat the police with the respect you'd like to be treated with. Good Night and Good Luck
Mike
Sun, Aug 21, 2011 : 1:04 a.m.
I hope you get audited by the IRS. You deserve the tender mercy you show drivers.
snoopdog
Fri, Aug 19, 2011 : 12:22 a.m.
Wild ridiculous assumptions that are not true though spoken as if they are factual. You know the famous saying about people that make "general" assumptions. Good Day
Cash
Thu, Aug 18, 2011 : 2:03 p.m.
snoopdog, Now I agree with part of what you said but remember this: Those cops don't keep that money....and they do not assign themselves to certain duty. There are people above them, the desk jockeys, who make the decisions and are trying to pull in all of the revenue that they can. Heaven knows I'm not defending that kind of ticket writing and not defending cops for sure! But....there are powers that be above who are pulling the strings and giving the orders. Just because the cops are the face of that action....they are NOT the decision makers. Always take notice of the ones who are really calling the game.
snoopdog
Thu, Aug 18, 2011 : 12:18 p.m.
"For those reading, please take a lesson from me and appreciate the dedicated first-responders gracing us in Washtenaw County." Don't care for the "undertone" of telling me what to do and think. If you give 100% each and every day at work, are considerate toward your co-workers, you don't need to constantly brag about how great you are. That goes for anyone doing any job whether it be a store clerk, a refuse collector , a fast food worker or a cop. Getting rather tired of the bloviating that takes place here regularly regarding cops. At least this time he included nurses, doctors etc. I am not very thankful when I get a speeding ticket for going 30 mph ( on a downhill) in a 25 mph zone and the cop says no breaks ( clean record--no tickets for over 7 years) and I end up with a 130 dollar ticket. 90% of what police do is write speeding tickets sucking even more money out of the taxpayers on top of their fat healthcare/benefits and pensions for life. Good Day
Craig Lounsbury
Thu, Aug 18, 2011 : 11:51 a.m.
As long as we are in a thankful mood I'd like to thank the garbage man who comes by my house 52 times a year and takes away my trash. Not nearly as glamorous as "first responder" but if he quit coming I'd have a problem.
Cash
Thu, Aug 18, 2011 : 1:58 p.m.
Absolutely. I always take those guys out bottles of cold water in the hot weather. The SMELL they have to put up with all day is ungodly.
Dan Ezekiel
Thu, Aug 18, 2011 : 11:38 a.m.
Thanks for another fine column, and a speedy recovery to your loved one, Rich.
Cash
Thu, Aug 18, 2011 : 11:26 a.m.
Thanks to all who keep us safe, comfortable & healthy Yeah and a POX on those who don't. As the thunder storm rolls into town I charge my phone, get out my battery lantern and prepare for DTE failure once again.
Cash
Thu, Aug 18, 2011 : 5:36 p.m.
Hahaha! Craig, that seems to happen doesn't it? I know a lot of folks who can afford it that got whole house generators....which is really saying exactly where DTE is at as far as a respected utility. It is really tough for old people and for those who rely on well water, needing an electric pump.
Craig Lounsbury
Thu, Aug 18, 2011 : 2:04 p.m.
I used to suffer frequent power outages in my neighborhood @ Packard and Platt. Frequent enough and long enough that I eventually bought a generator for $1200 a few years back. Seems like ever since I bought the generator I rarely suffer an outage. Go figure.
Cash
Thu, Aug 18, 2011 : 1:17 p.m.
Craig, D..m straight!
Craig Lounsbury
Thu, Aug 18, 2011 : 11:48 a.m.
so you and Rich aren't on the same page with utility workers?
yohan
Thu, Aug 18, 2011 : 11:24 a.m.
Yes, we should be thankful to our first responders for the peace and comfort that they provide. But for once, just once, I'd like to hear something I've never head before. That is a first responder saying thank you to the taxpayers for the comfortable living (compared to the un and under employed) that we provide for them.
David Briegel
Thu, Aug 18, 2011 : 4:50 p.m.
Should they thank you for the air they breathe?