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| Links to 23/31 & the 31 Vibrant Things Launch Post |
So today, I chose a fire hydrant because it's a profoundly vibrant thing but unless there's one in your front yard, I bet you (like me) may struggle to pinpoint where exactly they are in your neighbourhood. Related to this topic, how many firefighters do you know? I know one, but he's not inclined to discuss his work, or even broach the subject other than this: he deeply values and trusts the people on his team. This makes me curious.
Let's contemplate fire hydrants. What do we actually know about them?
Quick research reveals they are typically colour-coded according to water capacity, even type of water (potable or not). They are flow-tested at least twice yearly and are replaced approximately every 50 years. Apparently, in Canada, they are pressurized to keep the water below the freezing line.
All this adds up to key community infrastructure produced and maintained thanks to our taxes, an investment in security, a safety net, an insurance policy we hope we will never need. This implies that fire hydrants are abstractly future-orientated, so is that why we don't pay attention to something so valuable, so key to our well-being? And what else do we take for granted?
Until we need those fire hydrants.
Of late, I've grown weary of people who seek more and more and more, heedless or blind or willfully ignorant to all they already have. I'm not referring to those seeking solutions for important social issues we should all rally to improve: education, health care, poverty, injustice, inequality, and so on, nor am I suggesting that the status quo remain uncontested. I'm speaking of those who will never be satisfied....
Perish the thought their houses were burning. But no matter—my fire hydrant will always be my neighbour's fire hydrant, even if my neighbour didn't notice there are fire hydrants all over this safe and thriving and cherished country, even if my neighbour feels somehow cheated and maltreated by our community. And the firefighters? They won't think twice about rushing into their homes to save them no matter the ideology that makes them perceive themselves as hard done by... and I hope you know, dear friends, I am not just talking about fire hydrants.
Our hydrants are undergound and they are marked by a plate with a H or FH on it.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea but that makes sense.
DeleteUnderground hydrants? WOW! I’ve never heard of that.
ReplyDeleteI know where the closest hydrants are to my house. I know 1 firefighter, my dear departed friend’s husband. At her funeral, there were a TON of firefighters, he is the battalion chief.
My husband and I were just talking about the fire boats in San Francisco. They were going to be decommissioned, it was determined that they were no longer needed. Then when the earthquake hit in 1989, they helped save a lot of property in the Marina district, which had a pretty big fire. I *think* SF still has fire boats now, but will have to go check.
Fire boats? Also a new concept to me. These example reinforce the idea of what we take for granted.
DeleteWe take so much for granted. We need to stop doing that.
ReplyDeleteTrue, but those who willfully take things for granted...so frustrating.
DeleteThere is one directly across the street but ours are colour-coded because they all have the same town access.
ReplyDeleteYou do remind me of the city opening the hydrants on a very hot day when I was a young boy in Montreal. The memory is very hazy because I am pretty sure that I was no older than 5 or 6, and here I am almost 78.
This is a good reminder not to take things for granted.
ReplyDelete