The Idle Fireman

He said, Always. I've always been a fireman.

He said, But I wanted to be a fireman.

And I said, How long have you been a fireman?

An idle fireman looked desirable. But the situation is different now.

He said, As a kid. He said, Actually, it was a problem for me at school, because at school, everybody wanted to be a fireman.

Specifically, any fireman was entitled to payment for any hours spent on call in excess of regular working hours, and that entitlement had been denied the authors.

If the IMF fireman remains idle, it is not because of a lack of fires, but because neighbors, rather than relying on the fire brigade, are protecting themselves.

And if you imagine a kid pretending to be King Kong, or a race car driver, or a fireman, they don't all become race car drivers or firemen, you know.

Yet any other fireman or worker who spent periods of time on call was entitled to be remunerated for those periods, independently of whether or not he had actually worked.

Am I the one that you choose to disown as your child or your brother or your sister or your mother or your father, your neighbor, your cousin, your uncle, the president, your police woman or the fireman?