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When the Lord was creating fire fighters, he was into his sixth day of overtime
when an angel appeared and said, "You're doing a lot of fiddling around on this
one."
And the Lord said, "Have you read the specification on this person? Fire
fighters have to be able to go for hours fighting fires or tending to a person
that the usual everyday person would never touch, while putting in the back of
their minds the circumstances. They have to be able to move at a second's notice
and not think twice of what they are about to do, no matter what danger. They
have to be in top physical condition at all times, running on half-eaten meals,
and they must have six pairs of hands."
The angel shook her head slowly and said, "Six pairs of hands...no way."
"It's not the hands that are causing me problems," said the Lord, "it's the
three pairs of eyes a fire fighter has to have."
"That's on the standard model?" asked the angel.
The Lord nodded. "One pair to see through the fire and where they and their
fellow fire fighters should fight the fire next. Another pair here in the side
of the head to see their fellow fire fighters and keep them safe. And another
pair of eyes in the front so that they can look for the victims caught in the
fire who need their help."
"Lord," said the angel, touching his sleeve, "rest and work on this tomorrow."
"I can't," said the Lord, "I already have a model that can carry a 250-pound man
down a flight of stairs to safety from a burning building, and can feed a family
of five on a civil service paycheck."
The angel circled the model of the fire fighter very slowly, "Can it think?"
"You bet," said the Lord. "They can tell you the elements of a hundred fires and
can recite procedures in their sleep that are needed to care for a person until
they reach the hospital. And all the while they have to keep their wits about
them. Fire fighters also have phenomenal personal control. They can deal with a
scene full of pain and hurt, coaxing a child's mother into letting go of the
child so that they can care for the child in need. And still they rarely get the
recognition for a job well done from anybody, other than from fellow fire
fighters."
Finally, the angel bent over and ran her finger across the cheek of the fire
fighter. "There's a leak," she pronounced. "Lord, it's a tear. What's the tear
for?"
"It's a tear from bottled-up emotions for fallen comrades. A tear for commitment
to that funny piece of cloth called the American flag. It's a tear for all the
pain and suffering they have encountered. And it's a tear for their commitment
to caring for and saving lives of their fellow man!"
"What a wonderful feature. Lord, you're a genius," said the angel.
The Lord looked somber and said, "I didn't put it there."
Author Unknown
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