I’ve stolen that post title from Greybeard, a helicopter pilot. In fact, this post started out as a comment on his blog post with the same title.
Have you ever looked at those noisy, vibrating, shaking, chopping monsters as they gathered in a flock over the nearest traffic accident and thought, “No way in hell are you getting me into one of those suckers.”
I wonder how many times this lady said, something like that. How many times has she said, “I couldn’t fly in a helicopter, I’d be scared to death!”
But when the angels of mercy come screaming over the treetops on a cold, wet night to pick your broken, bleeding body up out of the mud and whisk it away to the only place that can keep you alive you won’t be “scared to death” to ride in the chariot that they bring because you’ll be “scared OF death” and that difference is significant.
When I first saw Greybeard’s post title I thought he was referring to himself and his crew. I guess he’s probably too modest to see himself as the rest of us do, or at least, should. As I write this I wonder how many lives he’s touched over the years. How many people are still walking today because of the gentle graces that he and his team provide with that noisy beast of an ambulance? How many families were whole over the recent holiday because he missed holidays of his own to sit on a lonely airport somewhere ready to fly at a moments notice.
Today’s post was going to be a commentary on another blog. At first I thought that I might beat Rob up about his birthday post. Then I thought I might expand on Will’s commentary about the Google Blog Reader. Then I saw Greybeard’s post for today and it all seemed so mundane. This guy goes to work every day and worries about whether God will clear the weather at just the right time and in just the right way to allow His guardian angels to save someone’s life. Kind of makes my worries over the 23 user accounts that I created yesterday seem trivial. Nice bit of perspective in that.
Most of us will never need your services but I for one am damned glad to know that you’re out there Greybeard. God bless, fly safe.
Wow.
ALMOST speechless, my friend.
I am blessed to be able to use skills I have polished for 41 years in a job I love, alongside others who are as skilled at their job as I am in mine.
…Blessed indeed. I love the job and certainly feel God lead me here.
I’m just one lucky guy that is part of a team… Police, Fire, and Ambulance personnel have to do their jobs before we even get a call. I’ve written before that in some ways, linemen for power companies can be lumped into the pile of “life savers”… what would folks with home respirator equipment do without them? Are there other folks doing jobs like that I am forgetting? Probably.
I arrive in the expensive, noisy machine, wearing the fancy-schmancy flight suit and attract all the attention, but I CANNOT do my job unless those listed above do theirs well.
We ALL need to remember them and be aware of the risks they take, because they are substantial.
But thank you for a touching post. You done good.