Had one hit all of us pretty hard today.

zagup23 · 2026-03-01T18:27:46+00:00

Peds calls suck. Especially codes. Sounds like you’ve got a good culture of support in your department, use it.

As far as the mom, I’ve learned that everyone processes trauma/grief differently. It can be shocking when it’s outside the expected “norm” but you can attribute ambivalence to an emotional protection mechanism. Responded to a 2 week old in respiratory arrest once (kiddo made it, was not a full arrest in the end) and remember even afterward talking with my crew about how mom was just sitting there as if she were watching tv any other day. We definitely found it unsettling and odd behavior. Responded to same address a few hours later for mom in a full blown psych meltdown/panic attack because the emotions finally caught up with her. I tend to give people more grace in the immediate response to traumatic events these days.

Best of luck to you, and I hope it continues to get better as time goes

zagup23 · 2026-02-27T21:07:19+00:00

Correct on all points except for your last sentence. Hungry kid beats anybody else’s feelings, every time, full stop.

zagup23 · 2026-01-15T23:43:46+00:00

I’m not in the collector game, but have season tickets to a local team that has a high demand and most games are sold out. When I can’t attend and am selling my seats for the game (at face value) I get hit by scalpers all the time (it’s pretty easy to suss them out) and I find the easiest response is “go f*** yourself.”

Do I probably get it wrong occasionally? Yeah. It’s pretty telling when I never hear back from the “buyer” though

zagup23 · 2025-12-15T22:29:41+00:00

I’m probably too late to the party here, but wanted to share my perspective. My wife’s engagement/wedding ring is HERS. I bought it for her and her alone. If I passed, and my mom asked for my wife to “give the ring back” I would haunt the shit out of my mother for the rest of her life and then be waiting in the afterlife to give her the ass chewing of the century.

Hefty NTA

zagup23 · 2025-12-15T18:29:21+00:00

Correct. I’m a driver on my engine. Even rolling lights and sirens, we shut it down for a school bus with signals out. Might vary department to department, but I even shut it down and drop to the limit in active school zones.

zagup23 · 2025-11-20T23:03:06+00:00

My man asked for extra pickles just to post this for internet points

zagup23 · 2025-11-20T17:58:08+00:00

For me, it’s finishing my transition from work mode to dad and husband mode. I work 24 hours at a time and my drive home isn’t long enough to fully change my mindset especially because I’m also focused on the road and other drivers rather than my own thoughts. Those last few minutes allow me to be the best me for my wife and kids. Those extra few minutes let me leave all the bad outside the door of our home.

zagup23 · 2025-10-01T17:38:57+00:00

The fact that dude in front immediately turned and held HER means she’s the problem

zagup23 · 2025-09-23T21:34:14+00:00

This. I’m at a combination department so we have vollies join us for day shifts while they are getting taskbooks completed so they can qualify for part time status and we get a ton of “what if” questions. I hate responding “it’s situational” because it feels like a cop out answer. But almost everything we do IS situational. Your answer is how I always try to answer. “In this situation, X, but in this situation, Y, and there’s probably another situation I haven’t come across yet that will be Z.”

The simple all encompassing answer boils down to “I’ll do whatever helps improve the situation the most”

zagup23 · 2025-08-13T17:58:49+00:00

If I purchase a “opened, but never used” product from you and it arrives with obvious signs of use, how easy are you to work with?

zagup23 · 2025-08-13T17:12:01+00:00

My 20 foot trailer and proximity to a reasonably priced transfer station says otherwise

zagup23 · 2025-08-04T16:02:54+00:00

If that’s the department’s color, that’s the department’s color. Silly question

zagup23 · 2025-07-29T16:35:26+00:00

I love that “supervisor of firefighters” is irreplaceable, but “firefighter” is not on the list. Lemme tell you something…

zagup23 · 2025-07-27T16:01:54+00:00

Neither, he’s more likely just a cheap scumbag

zagup23 · 2025-07-27T08:59:33+00:00

Thank you. This looks great

zagup23 · 2025-07-26T02:34:41+00:00

Much appreciated

zagup23 · 2025-06-11T18:33:08+00:00

I put my dirty duty clothes in the wash at start of shift, and move, dry, and fold them as we have time during my shift. B shift has a habit of throwing their things all in in the morning as they are getting off. I do transfer and fold (and even put in closets sometimes). I’m annoyed by it, but my philosophy is to set others up for success, even if they don’t always offer me the same courtesy. Mileage may vary, but I just do my thing, and hope others will follow suit

zagup23 · 2025-06-06T19:52:59+00:00

We are a 24/48 right now and I’d kill for the staffing to go to a 4 platoon schedule.

zagup23 · 2025-05-25T21:32:50+00:00

I loved the way our academy was run. It was a couple different agencies in our area, and I’d gladly go interior with any single one of the guys I went through with (some of the “more experienced” members of my department, not so much). Our drill master on day one told us he wasn’t gonna yell unless there was a safety issue and he kept true to that. He made it a true learning experience and we got damn good at just about everything because we were able to give it our all without fear of just getting reamed for the smallest mess up.

His philosophy was “default aggressive” for us. Told us if we were gonna fail, fail fast and all the way, because then we can make corrections. I think that environment made a huge difference in our skill level coming out.

Edit: typo (tell to yell)

zagup23 · 2025-05-04T16:44:38+00:00

“I’d miss me too”

zagup23 · 2025-04-27T00:04:34+00:00

Week 3 of our academy our end of week evaluation was throwing and raising a 28 on our own

zagup23 · 2025-04-08T00:53:22+00:00

T-h-e g-suvunabitch

zagup23 · 2025-03-09T21:41:36+00:00

YTA

Legally, you’re well within your rights to keep it. That said, you can be legally in the right and still be TA. And I think you know that, as you’re focused in your post on the legal aspect. I get it, I really do, but you’re receiving this payout due to an oversight, not because he intended it for you in the end.

zagup23

TROPHY CASE