Miami Dade “Fire RESCUE” batted 1 for 97 in the rescue-to-dead department. They celebrate while the families of the dead mourn. It is callous.
What would the heroes welcome have been had they rescued the woman under the rubble who they were in communication with for 11 hours, whose voice ceased, and who died because the structure was too unstable and therefore too dangerous to F-R to get to?
What would the celebration have been had they damned the torpedos and risked their own lives to RESCUE (See, it’s in their NAME) her? Did they not know that their chosen profession was dangerous? Of course they did.
What did they do that you and I couldn’t have done? Maybe you and I would have been killed rescuing that boy or trying to rescue that poor trapped woman who they were communicating with. Maybe our batting average would have been 0-fer 98+two of us killed. At least we would have risked our lives for another’s and our failure would not have been much different from 1 for 97. Or maybe you or I would have been 2021’s Lenny Skutnik and, at risk to our lives, RESCUED a woman who was seconds from going under for the last time—WHILE WE WATCHED! Lenny Skutnik was a hero. Miami-Dade Dire Miscue, not.
There is no proportion to this celebration, no sense of reality, no regret or embarrassment from them that they are getting a heroes welcome that is undeserved when 97 died and THEIR JOB was to rescue them. They saved NO ONE after the first day.
Okay, you’re thinking, “Well geez, they did their best! Don’t be so hard on them.”
I disagree that they did their best and have been vocal and frequent that they were the opposite of heroes, they were cowards, EVERYTHING delayed them. Fire, the other part of their name, “Geez we can’t put that damned fire out.” Too hot, too windy, rain, the non-existent threat of a non-existent storm—“See that lightning?”--but I'm not going to argue the point, they tried their best. Their JOB was still to RESCUE, do you give me that point? THEY FAILED!, agreed? Go back to their batting average.
“No, they didn’t fail. There was no one alive under the rubble after three or four or five days, everyone knew that."
Indeed. I’ll give you that point as well! Do you give me that they should have leveled with the families MUCH earlier than they did, not give “hope” when they knew there was no hope. No? You don’t give me that?
“No, there’s always hope.”
Okay, I’m easy, you’re an asshole, but I’m easy and I’ll give you that too. Will you then concede that with all I have conceded, Miami-Dade Retired Withdrew did not warrant a HEROES WELCOME? You’re a reasonable asshole, you give me that. Mazel tov! That is far and away the point sine qua non of this post. You don’t get to be a hero when you do your JOB. Hero-dom requires beyond ordinary, it requires extra-ordinary.
I can live with your tossed crumb. I should live with it, I will regret this but I am a man of regrets: A defense lawyer who loses a trial and whose client gets electrocuted does not get a heroes welcome, fair? Alright. We have reached ontological certitude here.
I am not engaging in any more dialogue. This is where I stand and it is not open to discussion.
A Fire-Rescue guy is all smiles below as he accepts his captain’s handshake and bro hug. I don’t know, maybe they’ll give him a medal or something too.
A second guy below is shown hugging his family when another headline on this tragedy at this moment is “Surfside’s Remaining Victim Estelle Hedaya’s Family Patiently Wait For Closure”. It's disgraceful that you are hugging your family when you haven'g given closure to Ms. Hedaya's family, left without giving them closure. Tacky. Distasteful. Callous. Disrespectful. CLUELESS. Embarrassing.
There are no standards anymore for heroes. If batting 1 for 97 gets you a raise and a celebratory “Welcome Home!," what does batting .375 and hitting 40 home runs get you? The reality ladies and gentle no-fire no-fighters no-rescuers is that today we honor “First Responders” whether they do anything useful after they first respond or not. Simply showing up (in uniform and badge, those are KEY) warrants you free tickets and a standing O at a sporting event. The reality today is that EVERYBODY is a hero if she wears a uniform and badge. It’s very fucked up. And they’re not heroes.
