Rebuilding Rob

I’ll never understand why it took so long for term “first responders” to really enter our lexicon, but first responders are the workers that I admire most.

First responders are the first, and usually the only, people to jump to immediate action in a crisis; often roaming their own safety or their own lives to help others.

Military personnel are the first thing that come to mind when I think of the term “first responders”. Whether they gave their lives, risk their lives, or gave their service let others can do one of the other two military personnel, give their time, their energy, and sometime their lives for the common good of a nation. Not only do I think that military personnel deserve better pay; I think that our government here in the United States needs to provide free, universal healthcare for military personnel and their immediate families. Furthermore, I wouldn’t be against the idea of military personnel receiving a tax exempt status.

My father was a police officer. Even though we learn about the concept of law enforcement from a young age, it wasn’t until I was older that I realized that my father was potentially risking every time he went to work. All my life, people young and old would ask me “Has your dad ever shot anybody?” My response was always “no”. As I got older, I would add: “…and I’m grateful he’s never been in a situation where he HAD to shoot anybody”. To all my international readers, Americans are a bloodthirsty people. No, the job isn’t always as exciting as what you see on TV or in movies; but the potential for it is there at every traffic stop and every 911 call.

Of course, I can’t mention police without mentioning firefighters. In a lot of ways, they’re like brothers; or, at least, first cousins. If you were to ask cop what job they would take other than being a police officer, they would tell you that they would become a firefighter. If you asked most firefighters, what they would do other than fighting fires, but it would tell you that they would become a police officer. Maybe it’s a case of the grass always been greener on the other side of the fence, but somehow both jobs seem to think the other one has it easier. Or at least they feel like they have similar skill sets that they can apply to either position. Firefighters literally walk through fire. They will walk in the extremely hazardous situations to save a life. like police officers, firefighters aren’t paid in nearly enough for what they do. They risk their lives every single time they clock in for shift.

When I left teaching for a few years, i considered going into nursing. I even started to take a few classes so that I could enroll in nursing school. While there, I learned about the ethical requirements of doctors, nurses and EMTs to assist in any medical/emergency situation they encounter. It doesn’t matter if they’re “on the clock” or not. They have the skills to assist and the are morally obligated to do so. Even in war, medics heal the sick. They don’t differentiate between the good guys and the bad guys. They heal the sick because it is their calling.

Finally, purely out of self-serving interests, I would like to officially have teachers and grocery store employees added to the “first responder” collective. No, their jobs don’t typically include blood, bullets, and fire, but in the last three years, we’ve seen how both positions are essential to every day life. As a teacher myself, I can’t tell you how many people have approached me, and said “I have a new appreciation for what you do, after the lockdown”. And the truth is, for a lot of students, they spend more time in school with their teachers, than they interact with their actual parents. And this is to say nothing about the potential for teachers to be thrust into first-responder status in the event of a school shooting.

Likewise, I couldn’t imagine what life would’ve been like if the grocery store employee simply stopped coming to work during the worst days of the pandemic. We’re no longer an agrarian society. People simply can’t go out to their back 40 and eat what they grow – in most cases. And unless you’re a whack-job like Ted Nugent, most of don’t dine exclusively on what we kill. Grocery store employees definitely deserve more pay.

What professions do you admire most and why?

Thanks for stopping by Rebuilding Rob. Be sure to like, comment and subscribe to my blog below. It’s greatly appreciated! Also, feel free to follow me on social media as well! Check out my most recent posts as well as some earlier, related posts:

• Rob’s Retro Movie Review: This is Spinal Tap (1984) – The Movie That Scaled to Eleven
• A Death in the Family (And My Disposable Income): My Life in Comics
• The Supporting Cast: Navigating the Eras of Male Friendship
• Life is What Happens: A Look Back at My Non-Existent 2025 Vision
• The Moment I Walked Inside a Hallmark Movie

The article “The First (and usually the only) Responders” first appeared on Rebuilding Rob.