Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Sit down, shut up. You may even learn something.

I'm working on publishing a program for my placement's 125 anniversary.

I only been in the EMS field since 2008. I've seen the cocky. I've seen the timid. I even seen the best firefighters grow from awkward pimple faced teens.

One thing I don't see is the really young sitting down with the really old. When I first handed this assignment, I kinda was apprehensive. I really didn't want to sit day after day listening to lectures. Believe me I had plenty of "death by powerpoint lectures."

One thing I didn't want this project to be was a dry "when we were your age.." stories.

I have to say, I was quite surprised. The stories they told were funny, touching and endearing. I'm learning so much about the way the fire company was ran, and the challenges they went threw just to get a call or dispatch.

Stuff we could imagine in this day with the age of instant new and social media.

I have to say, I am learning. This knowledge will help me to relate to different situations when I teach. I will be able to put things into perspective, when challenges come up. I will tell my younger students to pick an older member's brain. Get them to tell stories, and interact with a fading generation.

Compared to their stories, we have it easy.

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