story357.xml

story357.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-04-05

F o u r D a y s L a t e r
=============================

by Michael J. Legeros


September 11, 2001
==================

o Siblings
o Walking Wounded
o Fire Department of New York
o Drinking Game


Siblings
========

Today is my brother's birthday. He's a flight attendant for [some
airline]. Early this morning he returned home, riding one of the
jets that later crashed. The very next flight, it turns out.

Five days ago, my sister's baby was born. And I became an Uncle.

Gifts, both of circumstance and chance.


Walking Wounded
===============

Is this what Pearl Harbor was like? That's the thought of the day,
the *obvious* thought of the day, as we collectively ponder: are
these the same, stunned, surreal sensations that our parents and
grandparents felt fifty years ago? Dazed thoughts thinking "this
can't be real" while an angry anger bubbles underneath, sometimes
whispering, other times screaming for eye-for-eye justice. So, lo
these last years spent celebrating "America's greatest generation,"
we *get* what the vets were speaking about. The patriotic outrage
after a national violation. Not only can you not *not* react, you
cannot *not* want to help. Such as this author's immediate willing-
ness to assist with local firefighting needs, should worst-case mu-
tual-aid requests leave the Capital City understaffed. (Not likely,
mind you, but still considered.)

Our elders also had a buffer of sorts. For better or worse, ours is
an "information age." What was once radio, newspaper, and a little
bit o' television, is now CNN, the Internet, and near-instant pre-
packaging of just-happened horrors such that, by four o'clock this
afternoon, most of the major news sites had slick, professional-
looking graphics already advertising "America Under Attack." (In
their defense, I suppose presentation *is* everything. Even in the
worst of times.) Of course, provided you could *connect* to such
sites. Internet bandwidth was catch as catch can today. Once con-
nected, though, content was indeed king: photos and articles and
testimonials and those amazing (if wee) videos that diminished, but
didn't sterile, the day's incredible footage. Click to experience
the story. No thanks, living it already.

Don't know about y'all, but this writer hasn't had a lighthearted
thought since the first exclaimed phone call from my mother this
morning. Food, drink, and dessert urges are down. Favored hobbies
seem suddenly trite. Work tasks are all at once hollow. Heck, just
*get-ting* is a challenge, wading a stream of "survival thoughts,"
the mind's eye imagining worst-est-case scenarios requiring bottled
water, stashed cash, or, ah, "home-protection devices." (A gun shop
'round the corner was doing brisk business!) If I resemble a sort
of "walking wounded"-- if all of *America* is rendered same-- it
shouldn't be much of a surprise. "TV war" debuted during the Per-
sian conflict and "TV terror" is the logical, expected extension.
And in a land of free speech and open borders, of jury trials and
death-penalty foes, of mindlessly easy travel from coast-to-coast,
by car or boat or train or plane (the latter more secure the fewer
times "20/20" et al tried to "beat the system"), that the bullies
are bullying *harder* is hardly news. The United States is a coun-
try that, well, asks questions first. It's why we're liked and,
alas, why we're not.


Fire Department of New York
===========================

Officials fear 200 firefighters perished during the World Trade Cen-
ter attack and subsequent collapse. Twice the number initially re-
sponded, with upwards of 11,000 (!) eventually responding, reports
firehouse.com, quoting Harold Schaitberger, president of the Inter-
national Association of Fire Fighters. The site, quoting a late re-
lease from the FDNY Press Office, that the list of deceased includes
FDNY Chief of Department Pete Ganci, First Deputy Commissioners Bill
Freehan and Raymond M. Downey, and the Department's Chaplain, Rev.
Michael Judge. The largest loss of firefighters in a single inci-
dent, speculates the site, occurred on April 16-17, 1947, in Texas
City, Texas, when fires and ammonium nitrate explosions aboard two
(docked) ships killed 27 firefighters (and nearly 573 others). The
entire department, if memory serves.


Drinking Game
=============

Warning! Contains humor in wake of great tragedy!

World Trade Center drinking game. Instructions: Take a shot each
time a network-news anchor uses one of the following adjectives:

o horrific
o horrendous
o horrifying
o terrifying
o unbelievable
o unfathomable (rare, take two shots)
o tragic
o terrible
o just terrible
o we have just learned
o wait, we're getting another update


Copyright 2001 by Michael J. Legeros


--


September 13, 2002
==================

Music for angry, tortured, disparaged, disbelieving souls, as drawn
from author's collection of soothing heavy-metal music:


o "Call of Ktulu" (instrumental) - Metallica (with San
Francisco Symphony Orchestra)

o "Estranged" - Guns 'n' Roses

o "God Hates Us All" - Slayer (entire album)

o "Go To Hell" - Megadeth

o "Hand of Doom" - Black Sabbath

o "Highway to Hell - AC/DC

o "Mr. Scary" (instrumental) - Dokken

o "On Your Feet, On Your Knees" - Motorhead

o "Orgasmatron" - Motorhead

o "Painkiller" - Judas Priest

o "The Razor's Edge" - AC/DC

o "Screaming For Vengeance" - Judas Priest

o "See Me Burning - Motorhead

o "Shame" - System of a Down/Wu-Tang Clan

o "Timebomb" - UDO

o "Ton of Bricks" - Metal Church

o "TV War" - Accept

o "Wake Up Dead" - Megadeth

o "You Can't Stop Rock and Roll" - AC/DC



--


September 16, 2001
==================

o FDNY Fatalities
o Helping Firefighters
o How To Be An Idiot, Part 1
o Memo to Tom Brokow et al
o How To Be An Idiot, Part 2
o Things We Feared
o How To Be An Idiot, Part 3


FDNY Firefighters
=================

Confirmed list of Fire Department New York fatalities, updated as
soon as possible after updates from firehouse.com:

http://www.legeros.com/fire/fdny.html



Helping Firefighters
====================

Banners, ribbons, fundraisers, and flags. Prayers, condolences,
and moments of silence. Bowed heads and renewed respect. But if
you *really* wanna help firefighters-- both in New York and in the
rest of the world-- here's a simple gift that can be given over a
lifetime: get out of the damn way. When driving, when meeting a
fire truck en route to a call, let *it* have the right-of-way. In
1999, notes the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), 32 of
112 fatal firefighter injuries occurred while responding to or re-
turning from an incident. And isn't their job dangerous enough al-
ready? Plus, do you really want *yours* to be the car that delays
firefighters for those final fifteen seconds that a trapped child
could've been successfully rescued and resuscitated? Think about
it.



How To Be An Idiot, Part 1
==========================

Make generalizations about people based on the actions of a few.



Memo to Tom Brokow et al
========================

Please, please, *please* don't keep us in suspense during the next
national tragedy. You know, that shamelessly sly way of construct-
ing sentences with the "teasers" right out in front, a la "we've
just received a report from the Legislative Building, [ slight dra-
matic pause ] which is right around the corner from the Adminstra-
tive Building, [second slight dramatic pause ] where NOTHING HAS
HAPPENED."

Spare us.



How To Be An Idiot, Part 2
==========================

*Believe* generalizations about people based on the actions of a
few.



Things We Feared
================


Warning: Contains *more* humor in wake of great tragedy.


Things we feared one week ago:

o sharks
o shark attacks
o losing a winning lottery ticket
o George Bush publicly speaking, bless his heart

o military spending cuts
o social security lock boxes
o Gary Conduit never going away
o Jesse Helms retirement as hoax

o boring TV news
o boring talk radio
o too many cell phones
o Anne Heche continuing to make news

o Hilary Clinton for President
o Al Sharpton for President
o Rudy Giuliani forgotten
o jumbo jet crash. Singular.


How To Be An Idiot, Part 3
==========================

All dogs bark.

My dog barks on command.

Therefore, all dogs bark on command.


--


September 24, 2001
==================

o New York's Bravest
o Chart
o Map
o Definition of Freedom



New York's Bravest
==================

From http://www.ci.nyc.ny.us/html/fdny/home.html...

From the FDNY 2000 Annual Report...


Staffing
---------

11,495 Uniformed Firefighters and Fire Officers
2,677 EMTs and Paramedics
222 Fire Marshals
195 Fire Inspectors
1,741 Administrative Support Personnel (Dispatchers, Mechan-
ics/Tradespeople, Technologists, Civilian Profession-
als, Etc.)


Causes of Fatal Files
---------------------

20 Intentionally Set
31 Smoking
37 Candles, Cooking, Matches, Open Flame
3 Electrical Heater
23 Electrical/Extension Cord
9 Electrical/All Others
4 Vehicle Accident
2 Gas Vapor
4 Other

133 Total Fire Fatalities, All Cause


Fire Response
--------------

933,295 Fire Apparatus Responses
449,296 Fires, Non-Fire Emergencies and Medical Calls
29,281 Structural Fires Extinguished
31,058 Non-Structural Fires Extinguished


Fire Investigation
------------------

7,937 Fires Investigated for Potential Arson
3,404 Fires caused by Arson
394 Arrests Made


Medical Emergencies
-------------------

1,262,599 EMS Unit Responses
1,064,591 Medical Emergencies, Total
388,760 Medical Emergencies, Life-Threatening


Fire Prevention
----------------

181,328 Inspections
58,729 Apparatus Field Inspection Duty (AFID) Inspections
81,520 Violations Issued
69,537 Violations Corrected
8,724 Summonses Issued



Chart
=====

One month ago, feeling like five years ago, a three-dollar, FDNY
"unit location chart," as advertised in "Fire Apparatus Journal,"
an every-other-month monthly rag featuring fire truck photos and
related news. Tis a two-page chart, color-printed on thin,
not-quite-cardboard stock and laminated by Yours Truly at Kinko's
and which details, as of November 1999, the station or special
facility location of every engine, squad, ladder, rescue, and
marine company, as well as (most) all Special Operations Command
(SOC) u-nits. FDNY is the largest fire department in the nation
and one of the largest in the world. (Tokyo is bigger, I
believe. Who else?) And its roster reflects the breadth and
severity of the services they perform. Even before the
hundred-fold (thousand-fold?) challenges of September 11, 2001,
the firefighters of New York have been fighting more than just
fires.

As listed on said chart, these "specialized units" suggests theirs
is a job even *tougher* than what we've imagined:

o Alternative Fuel Response Unit*
o Collapse Rescue
o Computer Assisted Dispatch Operations Unit
o Decontamination Unit
o Decontamination Support Unit
o FDR Drive Response Unit**
o Field Communications Unit
o Foam Carrier
o Foam Tender
o Hazardous-Materials Unit
o Hazardous-Materials Technician Unit
o High-Rise Unit
o Hose Wagon (JFK airport)
o Hose Wagon Manifold
o Mask Service Unit
o Mobile Command Post
o Photo Unit
o Rehabilitation and Comfort Unit
o Satellite Water System Unit
o SCUBA Support Unit
o Tactical Support Unit
o Thawing Unit (for frozen fire hydrants)
o Safety Battalion

* Carries dry-chemical extinguishing agent, for propane-powered
vehicles and such.

* Mini-pumpers utilized during recently completed long-term re-
pairs that denied highway access to most full-size apparatus.



Map
===

From cnn.com and colored by Yours Truly, map of where the Heck
everything is happening:

http://www.legeros.com/images/afghan-map.jpg



Definition of Freedom
=====================

The freedom to display a flag.

The freedom to protest a displayed flag.

The freedom to protest the protest of a displayed flag.


Copyright 2001 by Michael J. Legeros