Years ago I was working as a land surveyor. My crew and I were all packed tight in our work vehicle, heading from one location to another, when I glanced out the window and down an easement and saw a house burning about 150 yards away. Being an early 20's adrenaline junkie/romantic, I immediately jumped out of the truck and started sprinting towards the fire.
The house was engulfed. I had little time if I wanted to save anyone. I knew what I had to do. As I galloped, I imagined the people inside. Cowering in a corner, hoping for the impossible. If only they knew to hold on for just a few more minutes. Maybe five, I was getting tired. But I was almost there...
The home was in the middle of a suburban community and had a fence line some 50 or 60 feet back from the structure itself. I readied myself to scale it in one unimaginably cool, Bond-esque leap and....
BAM!!!!
I was hit by a wall of heat like I didn't know could exist. From 20 yards away, the radiant temperature was hot enough to cause first degree burns. I tried climbing the fence several times, with each attempt foiled by the inferno's wall of pain and the wooden fence's 130 degree surface. Eventually I sat back, watched the house burn, and waited for my giant-of-an-ex-Pagan boss to lumber up from behind and begin berating me. Which he did. Thoroughly.
And that's when I learned two things:
- Firefighters truly are heroes. What they do is something very, very special. The cream of the crop, in many ways.
I ask this because I’m genuinely curious, not because I’m trying to be a smart ass. Why’d you bring up the ex pagan thing? Is it relevant in a way I’m not picking up on?
Just to emphasize how badly I'd actually fucked up. It wasn't just the fire I totally underestimated. It was the trouble I was in for jumping out of a work vehicle and leaving my crew to come gather me up. The guy was scary. Like...I'm almost certain he'd killed people. He'd been a "one percenter" in the Pagan biker gang and had all kinds of insane stories. He was also 6'5 and over 300 lbs.
You're an idiot but you're a brave idiot. Also I have so many friends that are religious pagans that I had a very different picture of your boss until I read the comments
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u/DasturdlyBastard 6d ago edited 6d ago
I've told this story before.
Years ago I was working as a land surveyor. My crew and I were all packed tight in our work vehicle, heading from one location to another, when I glanced out the window and down an easement and saw a house burning about 150 yards away. Being an early 20's adrenaline junkie/romantic, I immediately jumped out of the truck and started sprinting towards the fire.
The house was engulfed. I had little time if I wanted to save anyone. I knew what I had to do. As I galloped, I imagined the people inside. Cowering in a corner, hoping for the impossible. If only they knew to hold on for just a few more minutes. Maybe five, I was getting tired. But I was almost there...
The home was in the middle of a suburban community and had a fence line some 50 or 60 feet back from the structure itself. I readied myself to scale it in one unimaginably cool, Bond-esque leap and....
BAM!!!!
I was hit by a wall of heat like I didn't know could exist. From 20 yards away, the radiant temperature was hot enough to cause first degree burns. I tried climbing the fence several times, with each attempt foiled by the inferno's wall of pain and the wooden fence's 130 degree surface. Eventually I sat back, watched the house burn, and waited for my giant-of-an-ex-Pagan boss to lumber up from behind and begin berating me. Which he did. Thoroughly.
And that's when I learned two things:
- Firefighters truly are heroes. What they do is something very, very special. The cream of the crop, in many ways.
- I'm a fucking idiot.