But awshifer, I washent drinking...

Every now and then I am asked to tell a story about a fire fighter adventure. Although there are of course some very ugly things that are seen, there are also some situations that are interesting, exciting and/or just plain funny.

There are times when we leave a call and can feel the sadness of it for days and there are also days when we walk away and truly know what a huge difference we made.....those are the days we go out for ice-cream--lol.

Anyway, Drinking and Driving....Stupid. No way around it, it is just plain stupid. The sad thing is, when I was young and stupid, I did it. God looked out for me. I remember once when I was about 19 or 20, I ran my car off of the road after a night of drinking. It was probably 3 or 4 AM. A man I didn't know pulled over and asked if I was ok. I said I was. I told him that some OTHER drunk driver had run me off the road. He told me it was obvious I was drunk and could he give me a ride home. Like I said, I was 19 or 20 and he was probably about 40. Like most people that are intoxicated, I had absolutely no inhibitions. I thanked him and hopped right in his car. Well, the most incredible thing happened. He took me straight home! Before he dropped me off, he told me that I should never have gotten in the car with him. He told me how he could have done anything to me and I would have had no way of preventing it. He was right, of course. Even though that was a time when I wasn't paying very much attention to God, He obviously was keeping close tabs on me. (however, He did remind me of my misdeeds and did nothing to prevent that throbbing headache I had for the next 2 days......Perhaps that was his way of trying to remind me not to do THAT again.......it took a few more headaches after that to get the message across)

Hey, this story isn't supposed to be about me.

Monkeys Are Funny

One night, around 2 or 3 AM we got a call at the firehouse. We were told there was an overturned vehicle on a country road in our area.

When we arrived, the car was upside down, smoking just a bit and all the windows were broken, airbags deployed etc. There was also blood on what was left of the windshield and on the steering wheel. We secured the car and spent about an hour searching the woods, with flashlights, for the occupants of the vehicle. Nothing.

After about an hour, we got another call that there was a car wreck victim at a house about 2 blocks away from where we were. We went to that address, and there sitting outside was a kid about 18 or 19. He was scraped, bumped and bruised. There was a small gash on his head also, but other than that, he was fine. Well, he was "feeling no pain" at that particular moment. And yes, you guessed it, the car a few blocks away had been his. After his accident, he had walked to a friends house.

While I was checking him out and cleaning him up a bit, he was carrying on about how his car was ruined but how cool it had been while it was happening. (I'm thinking that the alcohol in his system prevented him from seeing the policeman standing right behind me).

Although he appeared to have no serious injuries, it was decided he should still go to the ER to be checked out. He said he didn't have a ride....that was ok, there was a friendly policeman there who was happy to give him a private escort.

Anyway, it's the one liner that he said that made this a funny story. After he finished listening (or pretending to) to me about how lucky he was and about how he should never drink and drive etc etc etc. He looked at me and the policeman and said in the most earnest voice, "But I WASN"T drinking and driving. I swear I wasn't. I made sure I finished ALL my drinking BEFORE I decided to drive home!"

and he was serious.

Have a great day!!!