"Excuse me sir, " the young man said, "May I take one of these?"

As he held an application for our hall, I said "Sure, but can we talk a minute please?"

"Well you can see I’m in good shape," he said. "I’m young, I’m healthy, I’m strong,

I’ve just moved into your community and I’d like to feel that I belong."

"I hear that you guys are pretty good. You play hockey and you’re great at ball.

Your Hallowe’en Dance is the best around, and you’re a pretty active hall."

"I just moved to town but I don’t work here so I’m not around much during the day,

and we’ve got a cabin at a lake up north, so on weekends we’re usually away."

I said,

"Son, you take the application home, fill it out in your leisure times,"

but I knew the questions he should be asked were the ones between the lines.

"When you’re called out at 3 a.m., how do you think your gut will feel,

when you run to your car and the glow in the sky lets you know `This games for real?’"

"And when it’s time for you to go to work after fighting that fire all night,

will you shower and shave and go in tired or will your boss be one man light?"

"How will you feel when a fellow brother says, `Oh, you’re just a volunteer,’

when you’ve trained as hard and worked as hard and attended more fires in a year?"

"What will you do when you’re wife says, `Let’s move! This house is just to small!"

"Will you say, `Let’s just add on a room,' because you’re closest to the hall?"

"Or when you’re offered work in another town that pays 2 grand more a year

and you know you’ll have to leave the hall, will you say `I kind of like this job here?’"

Tell me son:

"As the waiter is pouring that special wine to celebrate special years,

and your pager goes and you rise to leave will you just ignore her tears?"

"Or when you’re ten miles high on Christmas Day after you’ve made a fantastic save,

what will you say when you find your Christmas meal on a plate in the microwave?"

When your son has pitched great and you’ve missed the game and he asks you to explain,

can you say, "The fire was bad and that’s my job, but I love you just the same?"

"Compassion and dedication are important here but they’re not mentioned on our form;

and there is no gauge to indicate just how well you might perform."

"No, there are no questions about pain and death, but they’ve all been asked before,

and the MEN who answered right, have stayed and the boys have walked out the door."

"So son, you take this home with you and come back when you’re mature,

cause when you sign your name on the bottom line, It’s your LIFE I’m asking for."

Fire Chief

Langley, B.C.