As talkative as I ever am, I met Brett who did one better. He was an intriguing conversationalist and an avid story teller. Obviously driving Uber wasn't his primary objective in life. He is in a profession most of us would either dream of or dread to be in. Two extreme scenarios. Well Brett is a firefighter!! Now most girls would jaw drop right at this moment.
The moment the words firefighter left his mouth, my mind had processed 729 questions for him. I was outpacing myself..all I had to do is say these very words.."What's your story Brett?" He had a big smile on his face right away and I would assume he gets that all the time. Eh..whatever..I am still down to listen to a few good awe inspiring crazy stories of bravado.
He gave me some unbelievable stories. One of the most intriguing ones was about these two farm boys who got stuck in some sort of farm equipment which is used to churn huge stacks of hay. This poor blokes sweater got stuck in the propeller and the next thing he knows..his arm gets squished in between those giant wheels of fury. Due to the toughness of the human bone and I would say some good karma..the propeller got jammed and it stopped. Brett was onsite on call in 4.5 minutes and found himself detaching this mans arm from the wheel to save his life. How must it feel to do that???? I was having multiple rounds of concussions just listening to the story and guess what..this man sitting next to me actually did it!!
The best part about this guy is his final words before we parted.."Hey man I love my job"!! Wow..now that is a lesson for each one of us to take home when we aimlessly cry about our jobs. I am not implying we all have the most satisfying jobs. But look at these folks. Firefighters, nurses, soldiers, cops, paramedics, and so many others. Some of them have no social life whilst others don't even know if they would have a life after finishing their hours for the day.
In retrospect, I want to look at my own life and say to myself..that I thank my parents and God to have given me this life and whatever I am doing today. I want to embrace every moment of this life and all that comes with it..my people my friends my colleagues and strangers!!
Life is a gift and we must learn to treat it like one!
