on working with my dad
and waxing the captains door
I love working alongside my dad.
He’s wise and kind.
A lifetime ago, he used to fight fires for living - when people ran out, he’d run in.
It wasn’t all dalmations and thick hoses though.
There was a lot of waiting.
Waiting for yet another ghetto building to have fire alarms pulled.
Waiting to pull another sixteen year old off a telephone pole.
Waiting to rescue boa constrictors from a grow op.
(no shit, my dad did this)
Back then before the fire stations became the frontlines of the culture wars, they’d spend a whole bunch of time playing pranks.
Though I don’t think in today’s DIE world there would be much appreciation for a saran wrapped toilet bowl.
It’s too bad that the department has been ruined by HR, safety culture and their agenda based hiring initiatives.
Mangagement are always going to act like management - as total assholes more intent on climbing the bureaucratic ladder than actual fire ladders.
The creep of parasitic management would seep into the rank and file firemen. They’d ‘find work’ for the other men on shift. Typically there was routine maintenance to be performed. Sometimes though, it was overkill.
The next time you pass a firetruck, take a close look. What do you notice?
They’re shiny. Really fucking shiny.
Why?
They get washed and waxed A LOT
Sometimes, they get waxed multiple days in a row. That’s the overkill part.
Jimmy, there was a way we dealt with an overbearing captain who wanted the trucks waxed daily. We’d go over the engine - for sure - give it a few touch ups here and there. But when we came to the captain’s door? We’d do a really good job. Then the captain would come along and he’d say ‘oh geez, look at this great wax job. You’ve done a really good job on this engine’.
My dad called this waxing the captain’s door.
In your job, when are you striving for perfection?
When are the demands unreasonable and redundant?
Where in your life, do you take short cuts around unnecessary bullshit?
When do you wax the captain’s door?
