Respect Your Elders

I, like many folks, was raised with the expectation to respect my elders.  When I joined the fire service, everybody was an elder to me and, in turn, got respect.  After about 3-4 years in the fire service, I fell into a trap that many young firefighters fall into.  I decided that the vast (note the sarcasm) knowledge and experience I had attained in this amount of time was enough that I know longer needed to listen to the “old guys”.  Wow! I couldn’t have been further from right when I decided this.  Fortunately it didn’t take me very long to figure out I was going down the wrong path and maybe, just maybe, these “old guys” still had something to offer to the fire service.

I believe many young firefighters often fall into the trap of disregarding the “old guys”, much like the path many of us follow in our progression to adulthood.  When many of us become teenagers, we decide that we have all of life’s answers and no longer need to listen to the advice and direction of our parents.  Basically, we attain just enough knowledge and experience to become dangerous.  Most folks realize one day, down the road, their parents were probably right in the advice and direction they gave.  The same can be said for young firefighters looking back on the advice and direction the “old guys” gave.

So, what do the “old guys” have to offer to the fire service?  The answer to that question goes far beyond anything I can type.  In today’s fire service, despite the economic hardships we are facing, we are very fortunate in many regards.  Just to cite a few examples: we have excellent PPE & SCBA, technologically advanced tools and equipment, fire apparatus that have far more options than many of our own vehicles, fire modeling, and the internet.  All of these advances afford us the opportunity to do the job more efficiently, more effectively, and safer.  Note that I said “affords us the opportunity”, it’s still incumbent upon the end user to make these things happen.  The “old guys” did the job very effectively before the advent of many of these luxuries.  In many instances the “old guys” carried out their duties by using their brain versus using a fancy tool that takes much of the thinking aspect out of the job.  This is not to say we don’t need to be “thinking” firefighters today, but rather stress how important it was for the “old guys” to be “thinking” firefighters.  Listening to how the “old guys” did the job will make today’s firefighters more operationally effective and give them more “plays” in their playbook.  After all, sometimes tools and technology do fail.  Regardless, we still have a job to do and employing a method learned from an “old guy” may be the thing that gets the job done.

Additionally, the “old guys” have life experience.  This life experience may assist you inside, and outside, of the firehouse.  They’re been through the firehouse politics, the nagging spouses, and raising kids.  Spending a few moments talking with the “old guys”, and learning from their life experiences, may spare you a lot of headaches.  Listening to, and using, their life experience on the fireground could save your life or the lives of other firefighters.  Anybody who does this job long enough has probably had the instance of a “close call” or the call we got “lucky” on.  Listening to the “old guys” talk of these instances may prevent history from repeating itself.

While I’ve harped on us, the younger firefighters, listening to the “old guys”, there are a few things the “old guys” need to do too.  First, they need to remember that they were young once.  With that said, they probably have gone through much of what the younger firefighters are going through and should be understanding of it.  Second, they need to be approachable.  The younger firefighters will be more likely to listen to what you have to say if you are approachable and explain why you have certain viewpoints.  Finally, the “old guys” need to accept the fact that the younger firefighters are the future of the fire service.  Like it or not, it’s a fact.  If the “old guys” truly care about the fire service, they will pass on their knowledge and experiences to the younger firefighters.

Hopefully the next time you see one of the “old guys” around the firehouse, you pick their brain.  Amazingly, you might actually learn something.  While the “old guys” may not be as fast as they used to be or as up to date on all of the latest fire service happenings, they still have a very valuable place in the fire service.  Hopefully, someday, we will have the opportunity to become the “old guys” of the fire service and will assist the next generation with keeping the fire service moving in the right direction.