Today was a beautiful fall day in Calgary. Bright sunshine, no clouds in the sky. Not a day anybody wants to spend inside. So I couldn’t blame the fine men and women of the Calgary Fire Department for bringing their trucks and equipment to the park across the street for a little fun with a football and a frisbee.
I was mowing the lawn then they pulled up–a support vehicle, a rescue truck, and a pumper. The firefighters piled out of the trucks, wearing T-shirts and shorts. After adjusting the radio to blare out over a truck’s PA system (just in case), the game was on. With lots of shouting (“Good one, Cap!” “Aw, too bad, Frank!”), and plenty of laughter, the firefighters played their game. Every now and then, I could hear the dispatcher on the amplified radio: “Pumper 36, please respond…” And the firefighters would pause just for a moment before making sure the call wasn’t for them, then return to their games. They were still on the job and I had no doubt that if they were asked to respond to a call, that they would have done so immediately. But no calls were for them, and they continued to play.
I guess they were there about an hour or so before they packed up the football and the frisbee, and went on their way. But for a little while, the firefighters got the chance to play in the park on a nice fall day. Kind of nice to see.
Many years ago, I lived in Miami. Oh the glorious summer days when I got to drive down A1A past the Coral Gables Fire Department. There must be some sort of Disneyesque “they aren’t an employee, they are a performer” rule in hiring them. A metric buttload of very well built men in little red shorts washing their fire trucks.
Well, given that the weather for the next week is supposed to be quite nice and there’s a good chance the firefighters will be back, I’d like to let you know. But I might also suggest that you don’t want to be too conspicuous. You should, y’know, look like you have a reason to be across from the park when they play.
F’rinstance, I’m pretty sure my lawn will need cutting again pretty soon…
Upon some discussion with my wife, I don’t think she would allow me to co-opt the labour of local (and not-so-local) Lady Dopers who want to unobtrusively watch the firefighters in the park. More likely, she’d want me to make sure there were enough chairs on the porch, and plenty of chilled Chardonnay for everybody.
