Explain firefighters to me

[Feanaro_s_Wife]

**Hey Guy, was gonna PM you but thought everyone here might like some insight into these noble men we call firefighters. The ones who risk their lives, are full of courage, and save people all the time (and maybe even still rescue cats in trees?)…the ones who also play juvenile pranks all of the time

WHAT is up with the pranks??? Hubby got a small taste of it while doing on the job training here at home… things like having one of those 150lb dummies dressed in his uniform and put in his bed while he showered…another guys being chased with the water hose and soaked (including his car)…bedding being hidden etc.

Now that he is at “school”, the silliness continues. Guys have put images of their own butts on other guys’ computers as a screensaver, think its funny to knock books on the floor each time they enter the room, and numerous other things.

WHY?

What is it about military guys and firefighters that keeps them in perpetual high school mode? Or maybe even junior high? Any insight for us? I just want to go and smack some of these guys upside the head**

 

[SenorSalsa]

**Hey Guy, was gonna PM you but thought everyone here might like some insight into these noble men we call firefighters. The ones who risk their lives, are full of courage, and save people all the time (and maybe even still rescue cats in trees?)…the ones who also play juvenile pranks all of the time

WHAT is up with the pranks??? Hubby got a small taste of it while doing on the job training here at home… things like having one of those 150lb dummies dressed in his uniform and put in his bed while he showered…another guys being chased with the water hose and soaked (including his car)…bedding being hidden etc.

Now that he is at “school”, the silliness continues. Guys have put images of their own butts on other guys’ computers as a screensaver, think its funny to knock books on the floor each time they enter the room, and numerous other things.

WHY?

What is it about military guys and firefighters that keeps them in perpetual high school mode? Or maybe even junior high? Any insight for us? I just want to go and smack some of these guys upside the head**

I can’t speak for firefighters, but I can speak for men…we like jokes. More than once here at College I have walked into the bathroom to find somebody’s mattress laid across the top of the stalls, i have seen pumpkins placed in laundry, pie fights, etc.

there is just something inherently hilarious with messing with people you know

 

[Feanaro_s_Wife]

I can’t speak for firefighters, but I can speak for men…we like jokes. More than once here at College I have walked into the bathroom to find somebody’s mattress laid across the top of the stalls, i have seen pumpkins placed in laundry, pie fights, etc.

there is just something inherently hilarious with messing with people you know

LOL, women like jokes too… and it is obvious from any junior high, high school, or college that guys REALLY like jokes. But, while most guys eventually grow out of it, military guys and firefighters seem perpetually stuck at that level. Or maybe it is that the rest of the males in society feel forced to give it up whereas these guys have free reign to continue?

 

[basilisk]

Respect: If you take it without whining and then express revenge by getting the guy back in kind, the guys will respect you.

Bonding: Humor is the glue, and the coping mechanism, that keeps these guys bonded and working as a unit, in the face of some of the truly horrible stuff they have to see.

I learned this from my dad and his 25 years of pranks from, with, and on other cops.

 

[BlestOne]

Malia… as an ex fire-fighter (bet you didn’t know that about me) and an ex-military person…

***I know…right?

Been there done that… put up with it years… but they do sooo many other things so well. **
*

 

[Feanaro_s_Wife]

Malia… as an ex fire-fighter (bet you didn’t know that about me) and an ex-military person…

***I know…right?

Been there done that… put up with it years… but they do sooo many other things so well. ***

I knew you were military…picked it up her somewhere, lol… but a firefighter too? Cool. So, give me your views…

 

[happymommy]

Respect: If you take it without whining and then express revenge by getting the guy back in kind, the guys will respect you.

Bonding: Humor is the glue, and the coping mechanism, that keeps these guys bonded and working as a unit, in the face of some of the truly horrible stuff they have to see.

I learned this from my dad and his 25 years of pranks from, with, and on other cops.

I think you are right. These men and women are going into some very scary things, if they don’t feel comfortable and at ease with those they are working with it might make it harder to work as a team and trust the person covering your back.
I also think that this way, they really get to know the person. Helps them tell how they are going to react and work during a fire. Just my 2 cents. My nephew is a fire chief. I’ve heard enough stories from him that just make me want to cry. They have to blow off steam or they’ll just hold it all in. It’s a rare breed of people who want to put their lives on the line for strangers. Just like our soldiers and police officers. I don’t think the get the credit they deserve.

 

[SMHW]

** But, while most guys eventually grow out of it…**

See, I don’t know that this is true.

I think anytime you get a bunch of guys (women too) who have to form some sort of a team, whether it is work or play, you get this kind of thing going on.

The ones who don’t join in are the exceptions.

 

[happymommy]

Malia… as an ex fire-fighter (bet you didn’t know that about me) and an ex-military person…

***I know…right?

Been there done that… put up with it years… but they do sooo many other things so well. ***

I bet your kids think you’re cool!!

 

[dhgray]

I can’t speak for firefighters (God bless them all), but as for the military … we pull pranks to keep us sane and for camaraderie. Both firefighters and Soldiers (and many other professions) are a band of brothers and do things that goes against our basic human nature … firemen run into a burning building.

If they didn’t like him, they wouldn’t mess with him. It’s their way of saying, “You are one of us.”

Please pray for all our service members (and firemen/policemen) and their families.

 

[dhgray]

But, while most guys eventually grow out of it,

Growing old is mandarory…
growing up is optional

 

[Feanaro_s_Wife]

Thanks for the insight everyone.

I was wrong when i said that guys grow out of it. What I meant was they usually mature in their “jokes”…at least a little bit. I think most of the stuff is funny, but there are always the “jokes” that could end up getting someone hurt or causing some type of damage… I just don’t get those ones. But for the most part I understand the bonding etc. Hubby and I are like that with eachother too. But not the dangerous or damaging stuff:shrug:

So, for those of you “in the know”… give me some good ones I can pass on to hubby if he needs to get revenge

 

[Among_Strangers]

** … Guys have put images of their own butts on other guys’ computers as a screensaver**

BWAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA OH MY SIDE !!!

If I could get away with that where I work, I’d do it!

 

[BlestOne]

I seriously think it comes from a few things…

Adrenalin… all that extra energy from dealing with life and death emergencies and no where to put it after the emergency.

Boys club… guys bond weird to us girls… but yeah the military and firefighters are still so predominantly male fields.

Boredom… have to find something to do while waiting for that next emergency

Seriously… I watched one of my fire-fighter friends drink himself to alcohol poisoning on one New Years Eve… thankfully when he stopped breathing he was surrounded by the fire and ambulance crews. Same guys built a house for some friends… I got in on the jokes with that one… I was running the cement truck and all those guys that gave me a hard time… I overfilled their wheel barrels… those guys were covered in cement at the end of the day! One of my best buddies there at the fire house was so incredibly ornery we never knew what he was gonna say or do next… except when it came to me… if anybody disrespected me he would threaten their manhood… very protective bunch too (did I mention that?) Heck… the cops all knew us well too… we got away with soooo much common mischief you just wouldn’t believe… well maybe you would. Military for some reason is very much the same as fire-fighters… lots of practical jokes (ask me about duct tape and elevators) but when it gets tough we have to be able to count on each other… we worked hard and we played hard… it was a way of life!

 

[KCtheMommy]

My DH is bound and determined to catch the “shower pooper” on the ship, and make him PAY. They all shower in one big shower room, no stalls etc. Someone inevitably poops. Every day. He says your soaping up and all of a sudden there goes a turd, floating by, and you can’t get yourself clean enough after seeing it. “I am SO catching that guy, oh and he’s PAYING.”

That is the grossest thing ever.

Tell DH to be grateful it’s just a dummy in his bed.

 

[Among_Strangers]

Thanks for the insight everyone.

I was wrong when i said that guys grow out of it. What I meant was they usually mature in their “jokes”…at least a little bit. I think most of the stuff is funny, but there are always the “jokes” that could end up getting someone hurt or causing some type of damage… I just don’t get those ones. But for the most part I understand the bonding etc. Hubby and I are like that with eachother too. But not the dangerous or damaging stuff:shrug:
So, for those of you “in the know”… give me some good ones I can pass on to hubby if he needs to get revenge

OK here is one that takes just a little prep and recon. Hubby needs to know when the guy he wants to “get” has his morning constitutional. Make sure he is in the adjacent stall. Wait for the intended victim. Smear a little glob of peanut butter on some toilet paper and then flip it under the stall, make sure it lands peanut butter side up. Hubby sticks his hand under the stall and says very dryly, “Oh sorry man, can I get that back from ya?”

 

[happymommy]

My DH is bound and determined to catch the “shower pooper” on the ship, and make him PAY. They all shower in one big shower room, no stalls etc. Someone inevitably poops. Every day. He says your soaping up and all of a sudden there goes a turd, floating by, and you can’t get yourself clean enough after seeing it. “I am SO catching that guy, oh and he’s PAYING.”

That is the grossest thing ever.

Tell DH to be grateful it’s just a dummy in his bed.

oh, that’s just wrong on so many levels!!!

 

[BlestOne]

for computer gags… use these…
thefreesite.com/Seasonal_Freebies/April_Fools/

softlookup.com/category.asp?id=37

 

[BamaRider]

Well M I dunno; but it was one of the great things about the job. The fire station is nothing but a locker room or frat house. In my dept we worked a 24 hour shift every 3rd day. We trained, slept, worked, ate and played together. There is nothing like the atmosphere of a fire station. For Canucks the fire station is like the locker room of a Hockey team.

When you put a bunch of testorone, adrenaline pumped men in a such a place stuff happens.

The job attracts a certain kind of guy. Most are ex ballplayers, or military. And yes, most of us never grew up. I mean we get to ride in million dollar fire trucks, with lights and sirens, and have all kinds of toys to play with, like jaws of life. They actually *pay *us to rappel down hills, and high rise buildings. We get to use axes to beat down doors. Now we have stuff like infrared vision and night goggles, its awesome. You train for long hours to do certain things and when you don’t get to do it, you get frustrated. Horseplay becomes almost out of control if the guys have been several shifts with no real action. All that adrenaline has to bleed off somewhere.

Firefighters are different from say cops because we live together. Every 3rd day. For 26 years I went to the fire station to be with my friends for a 24 hour tour. Some of which I had known since Jr High school. We played ball in HS together, I dated their sisters, and I rode bicycles all with them all over the city we grew up in. When I was a teenager I recall hanging out in the local McDonalds parking lot down the street from one of the fire stations. You could hear the tones and bells when a call came in. A few seconds later the truck or ambulance would come racing by, and all eyes were on them. “Dang! That must be awesome! Sign me up!” We’d call out to each other. A few of us actually did.

My guess F is gonna be the rookie for about a year, so they get tmessed with extra. Tell him its a part of the iniation, and that is how they find out what kind of guy he is. They wanna see if he can take the abuse to find out if they can count on him in a fire.

The fact we messed with each other so much was just in our DNA. It was fun! Now D has to bear the brunt of pranks cause I have no other outlet.

A long time ago, I thought up this prank. The paramedics use ammonia capsules on unconscious people to wake them up or to see if their faking. You crush the capsules with your fingers and the vapors quickly go to work. It will bring tears to your eyes in a hurry. They were known in my fire dept as “silver bullets.”

Well one morning before going off duty I went in the ambulance and took a couple out of the med kit. Debbie was at work when I got home. So I went to her bathroom, and put a bullet between the seat, and the rim, so when she sat down it would break open. Man I was laughing so hard when I set the bobby trap, didn’t think I’d be able to pull it off. Her bath is in the master bedroom, she banished me from it the day we moved in.

So she came home for lunch, and I was kinda quiet, just looking around waiting on her to go to the back. Finally she did and a few seconds later I followed her. Soon as I walked in the bedroom I could smell ammonia it was awful. The bathroom door was cracked, and I called out to her, “Ewwwwwwwww dang baby are you sick??” "I dunno, its taking my breath " “Open the window or sumptin.” “I’m trying!” “You better get checked out, it smells like a thousand diapers in there. " " I know I don’t understand.” “What kinda coffee you been drinkin?” “I dunno the same kind as always, but I gott get outta here!” So I put my foot to the door. "Get out the way! Can’t breathe in here! " So I let her out and she came out with watery eyes and hacking. OMG I was laughing so hard.

“Whats so funny, somethings wrong in there” Then I raised the seat and she saw the broken silver bullet. "I’m gonna KILL you! I thought something was wrong with ME! So I ran back down the hallway, and out to the garage, and she was right behind me, she threw a flip flop and hit me in the back. I put the car between us and she chased me around. “Calm down, dang it, it was just a joke!” “Wait till I get my hands on YOU, they’re gonna lock me up for domestic abuse.” So that was that story.

So Malia, always check under the rim before you sit down. Cause he’ll learn that prank in short order. Doesn’t work on guys for obvious reasons (yanno we stand to do it LOL)

 

[Feanaro_s_Wife]

My guess F is gonna be the rookie for about a year, so they get tmessed with extra. Tell him its a part of the iniation, and that is how they find out what kind of guy he is. They wanna see if he can take the abuse to find out if they can count on him in a fire.

Oh yeah, he knows, lol. Like I said, he did a few months of OJT before going on course…

A long time ago, I thought up this prank… Soon as I walked in the bedroom I could smell ammonia it was awful.
“Whats so funny, somethings wrong in there” Then I raised the seat and she saw the broken silver bullet…

So Malia, always check under the rim before you sit down. Cause he’ll learn that prank in short order. Doesn’t work on guys for obvious reasons (yanno we stand to do it LOL)

**Ummmmm, how long were you two married when you pulled that stunt? We’re almost at 10 years so hubby BETTER know not to ever go there by now, lol. I would get him back…oh boy would I ever…

as for not working on you men… you do have to sit occasionally
**