LETTERS: Firefighters shop in groups for good reason
To the editor:
I have often been in disagreement with letters published in the Review-Journal, but nothing politically or socially has angered me enough to bother responding until now. It seems that a certain citizen resents the way that firefighters spend their time while on duty and shopping for their groceries.
Barbara M. Trella’s letter (“Fired up,” Tuesday Review-Journal) argues that firefighters should be more low-key in their shopping habits. They apparently eat too well for her taste, too. I am not a firefighter. I am not related to a firefighter, but as the stepmother of a law enforcement officer, I am aware of first responders’ sacrifices and dedication to duty, and I believe that firefighters deserve better than Ms. Trella’s diatribe.
Firefighters come to the market in their truck and as a full crew, not as a social event or to show off, but because they are on duty. At any time their radios could sound an alarm which would require them to stop what they are doing, abandon all of that apparently excessive food, and respond. Life and property are at stake.
They must be ready at any and all moments of their multi-day shift to drop everything and go, as a unit. That would be impossible if one or two of them were off in personal cars getting groceries. That would take one entire truck out of service until the shoppers could get back to the station to join the rest of the members of their crew and respond to the call. I hope that’s not your house burning, your loved one suffering in an accident or even your cat stuck up a tree waiting for that to happen, Ms. Trella.
As far as the quantity and quality of the food in those carts, what they decide as a group to buy and consume is none of your business. That food could end up being left on the table uneaten when the alarm sounds and sends them off to put them in danger, risking their lives by running into a burning building as everyone else is running out.
Our first responders deserve better than your petty and nosy attitude.
KATHIE CRAIG PEARSON
LAS VEGAS