Thanks to the Thankless

While the Bra Street Rambler is usually a light-hearted and humorous blog reflecting my personal perspectives, this week I'd like to get serious again. I'd like to focus on something that I'm actually rather passionate about and have touched on in previous posts. You see, throughout my blog I have tried to communicate the importance of appreciation, but there is one group out there that simply doesn't get enough of it. In fact, often theirs is a thankless job. They work tirelessly but are often overshadowed by the few who simply do not deserve the honour and prestige of their titles. But this post isn't about those few, it's about the many. Rather, this appreciation goes out in two parts.

Who are these people who deserve our recognition and appreciation, you might ask? Emergency Services. I'm talking about the police, firefighters, paramedics, ambulance drivers, and even the dispatchers who field our calls. I'm talking about all of the people who work around the clock in extremely stressful environments, sometimes risking their lives for ours, and often putting their mental health on the line for us.

On a great many occasions in my life, mostly through various employment and sometimes in my personal life, I have had dealings with each and every one of those groups. I have seen them working hours that most of us have refused to acknowledge since the late nights and all-nighters we enjoyed in our youth. I have seen them trying to do their jobs, working to save people from dangerous situations, only to be received with verbal and even physical resistance. And quite frankly, even when they are helping people who are not posing risks to them as emergency responders, how many of those people are in a position to remember to offer up their appreciation? Emergency situations rarely allow for such things.

Something else back to back emergency situations don't always allow for? A regular sleep cycle, meal breaks, bathroom breaks, breaks to simply breath and compose yourself after seeing things I quite honestly wouldn't wish on my worst enemies....

And still, these amazing people keep doing what they're doing.

Amazing.

Now, you might be wondering what I meant by this appreciation going out in two parts. Well, there are other people in this particular equation that I believe deserve our recognition; their families.

These amazing people stay by the sides of these emergency responders when their systems are out of line from going back and forth working day shifts, then night shifts, and when their moods reflect trying to cope with such changes. They stick by through the self-distancing a lot of these workers go through from such a high stress job, and most of all, they go through the constant worry.

I have worked for and along side some of these family members, and witnessed first hand the stress and worry they go through when their loved one was called away on a dangerous job, or when they have had to stand idly by while their spouses tried to cope with something that was either so terrible they couldn't talk about, or that they weren't allowed to disclose.

It's a stressful thing to watch the ones we love suffer, or to know their lives could be in danger at any given moment.

And still, these amazing families stand by their emergency responders offering them the love, patience, and understanding that anyone needs.

Again.... Amazing.

So please, as you read this post let the message sink in and take it with you into your encounters with these brave and courageous individuals: these are ordinary people, they're just like you and I. They aren't robots who go about their jobs unfeelingly. They don their uniforms, go to work doing things that most of us could never imagine doing, and then they take off their uniforms and go back home bringing with them new memories from each shift that they then have to live with for the rest of their lives. And you know what? They're not strong for themselves in these situations.... they're strong for US.

So shout out to Emergency Services around the world, and shout out to their families.

You make the world a better place.

Cheers!

The Bra Street Rambler


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