Pride In the Small Things

(Originally Posted to Facebook and Instagram in September 2019.)

Friday before last, I had the opportunity to talk with our newest recruit firefighters for the last time.  The last recruits I will welcome to the fire department.  8 of them.  I wonder how many I have welcomed across my cawreer; no way of knowing.  Anyway, below is what I shared, my thoughts from the Wednesday before when I washed my car, reflecting before turning it in.  

As I washed my car, I wondered how many times I must have washed a fire department rig over my time.  I thought about what it meant to complete that task and how it got started.  I spent about 3 hours washing and cleaning it before handing it over to my replacement, Gary H. 

I told the recruits that I remember washing fire engines and staff cars way back to when I was a volunteer.  After Tuesday night training or a call in the middle of the night, we would wash.  We may have been watching TV in the day room when the rig returned from an incident, but we all migrated to the apron to wash.  No one ever told me to go wash the engine; we just did.  I saw others do it, so I did it.  Tradition.  

We then talked about how washing the apparatus was an act of taking care of it.  We took care of it so it would take care of us....in service to the community.  It was no different than any other maintenance we performed, except that it was the most visible.  We took a lot of pride in our apparatus, and the care thereof.  The apparatus belonged to the community, as they paid the taxes that purchased them; we were just the custodians.  Pride.  

I then reminded the recruits of two items I showed to them in my Commitment presentation their first week; one being a small embossed coin with an angel on it and the other being my first career fire helmet.  The coin was given to my partner John F. and I by a community member who stopped by the station.  She called us her “Angels on the hill” and it represents commitment to the community.  The helmet is the helmet I wore in March of 1985 when my partner Kerry M. and I pulled a guy out of a burning house.  The helmet represents commitment to myself and the job I was sworn to perform.  I said I would do the job and when called upon to do it, I did.  

I asked the recruits which item they thought I would be most proud of.  One young man suggested the coin and I ask him why he felt that way.  He said because the community member gave it to me, that they took time to stop by the station and deliver it.  He was spot on.  Pride in the small things.

We then talked about the helmet and the rescue.  Was I proud of that?  Absolutely.  But, it was just doing my job, the job I asked for, that they equipped me for, trained me for.  No different than when the trash collector picks up your garbage or mechanic repairs your car. I am no better, no bigger, just different.  Not heroism, just doing the job.  I then shared that we need to keep it all in perspective, that we need to remain humble so as to maintain our relationship with our community and it’s members.  Humility in the big things.  

Pride in the small things, humility in the big.  They can live in harmony as long as we maintain the proper perspective.  

I then told them I was thankful for my time with them, told them I loved them like family, gave them hugs and we were done.  It was hard.  Just like that, it’s over.    

Pride and humility.  

Showing pride in the small things, the things that may get you no recognition, that are sometimes mundane.  You won’t get an award for doing the small things and you shouldn’t need it. However, pride in the small things will pay you back when you get to the big things.  Regardless of your profession, paying attention to detail and taking pride in being a professional in your field will reward you repeatedly.  Not award, reward.  Reward that comes from inside you for a job well done, from running a “tight ship.”  

As you move through life, through the small things, eventually, something big will happen.  It might be the rescue, it might be your student wins a Nobel peace prize and thanks his/her 3rd grade teacher, it might be your son or daughter makes the decision to not drink at a party and says “Thanks Mom.”  Don’t expect an award because you don’t need it.  Humbly seek that reward that comes from inside knowing you have done good work.  The reward that comes with humility will outlast any award ceremony you may attend.   

Pride in the small things and humility in the big ones. I have tried to live that through my career. This week I am proud of the work I have done, feeling like I made a difference. I am humbled by the love and support shared by so many.