as the red light turns

sigh..... I had completely forgotten how some days can be totally sucky at the firehall..... when there's more bickering and nattering than hens in a hen house. It's a case of where boredom breeds contempt. Or cabin-fever, or February blahs. I'm not exactly sure. But I am starting to dread shift change when we tag off with the next crew. There are four shifts (A, B, C and D platoon) that rotate through the week and inevitably, when there is a lull in calls the bickering starts. If one shift decides to move the cutlery to another drawer or rearranges the condiments in the fridge it invariably upsets the apple cart. There are shift wars on the time of day the trucks should be washed, how they're washed, and if a chamois or a squeegee should be used. The blame game gets started (instead of trying to find a solution to the problem) if a pry axe goes missing from the trucks or the fuel gauge is below acceptable levels. Sadly, it's usually just one or two guys who like to stir the hornet's nest and are so moody you'd think they were going through man-opause. Someone has been leaving the toilet in the women's washroom a filthy mess and I wish I had the balls to leave crazy glue or itching powder on the seat... so that arse will be stuck there for all of eternity and once he does get unpried he'll have a rash so bad he won't be able to sit down for days. Yesterday's shift-change was crappy with all the drama, but I am thankful that the boys on my shift have my back and will jump to defend me if anyone makes a snarky comment about me.

Sigh... I guess firefighters are not above human-nature and we can't escape the dynamics of being in a big 'family'. I hope it's really busy with calls in the next while so we can just focus on what really matters... having fun at work, and if we're lucky, maybe save a life.