Freedom

After the full 40 hours in the ambulance this week, it is very nice to be home today where I can stretch my legs, pee when I want, and eat when I'm hungry. I did still do work for my part-time gig, but I can do that from a comfy spot on the couch, so 8 hours of typing doesn't seem too bad. Sunday will find me back on BLS-24, saving old and/or crazy people from staying in the hospital.

I took the written test this week to volunteer as an EMT for the dept that K works with (and that covers our house). Many of the other ffs in the dept said that if Mr. Union couldn't come up with a good reason for me not to volunteer, then they didn't see any problem with it. A number of their ex-wives have done it over the years, and nobody complained. Next step is the interview. They really wanted me to come in Thursday afternoon as they were getting a panel together for others, but that wasn't really going to happen when I'm supposed to be at work because I can't take time off on short notice. Another interesting twist is that one of the day-time paid positions may be coming open soon, so if I can get trained as a volunteer, I should have an inside track on that position which would pay more and be 911 instead of just transfers.

Speaking of ex-wives, I'm beginning to feel a little paranoid. Most of the ffs are divorced and many of the ambulance people I work with are divorced or just plain cheating. Before we moved here, people at the old ambulance co. said that if K liked me, he shouldn't encourage me to work at the new place because there was a lot of cheating and such going on. He and I both laughed it off, but between the ffs and the emts, I'm beginning to wonder if it is even possible to have a normal relationship in this field. Everyone has the excuse of the long, odd hours, but I think that is mostly a cop-out for not putting the time and energy into a relationship and not having the trust in your spouse that you should. Besides, if you decide you really want to be with someone else, isn't it just common courtesy to break off your existing relationship first?

The strangest comment I've heard lately is that there are two types of women in EMS, "wide-asses" and "girls who put out". I find this strange because it isn't really two mutually exclusive groups and it doesn't really cover everyone. It was said to K and he decided not to put the guy on the spot and ask whether that meant that his wife was a wide-ass, but it is a little weird all the way around. It also comes pretty close to what a woman I rode with recently said about girls who work on their feet and those that work on their backs in EMS. I fail to understand how anyone would put up with someone who doesn't do their share of the work just because they put out, but maybe I'm missing something ...like a penis.