"How's Work?"

It's a pretty typical conversation item. When I'm chatting with my friends or family, they often ask me "how's work?" What I've been saying lately;

1) Work? You want to know how work is? When I'm at work, I feel like a Fireman. Yeah, picture a Fireman standing all alone in front of 10 houses that are in flames. They're burning to the ground, children are running and screaming, people are stuck on second floors, there's soot and ash in the air, timber is popping and crackling, structures are collapsing, it's hot and uncomfortable, and everyone is begging for your attention. Please, dear God, help me, they cry. And then you realize that you have enough water to put just *one* of the fires out. Hurry. Pick. Go. That's how work is, thanks for asking.

2) On top of that, you're so busy responding to these fires, literally there is no rest, you don't eat, you don't sleep, all you do is put the dirty gear back on and head back out again, week after week, saving what little you can... you're so busy doing that, that you don't even have the time to stop for just a moment and go build a station house, go recruit more Firemen to help you, buy a fire truck, get more water, hold community fire prevention sessions, or do anything that would help you be able to respond more effectively to the fires or prevent them in the first place. Sometimes you manage to call the cops on your cell phone to ask for help, but they give you the dismissive retort "we don't respond to fires," you're on your own. It's just a neverending series of fires that only you are held accountable to address. That's how work is, thanks for asking.

Haha! Anyway, the above pic was taken during the 2003 San Diego Area Wildfires. Have a good weekend!