Karen: My friend, who is a retired police officer, mentioned he had been out on some police and fire discussion boards making the unpopular argument that police officers, firemen, and all other so-called first responders, are not heroes.
Chad: Karen has no friends. Anyone who made a decision to serve and protect would never not consider themselves a hero. Karen is either not being truthful or was taking her pain pills when the conversation took place. Karen is ignorant.

Karen: We were in agreement that they are not heroes just because they do their job, whatever that job entails.
Chad: They are not jobs, they are chosen careers. Karen is ignorant. Police and fireman alike are the safety net which we all sleep on at night. I am being protected from both and believe they are heroes through and through.

Karen: They are not heroes because they may have some element of danger in their work – just like an accountant who balances the book is not a hero, and a lumberjack who drops a tree is not a hero. Yet each time a first responder dies, the local – and sometimes national – media reminds us over and over of the passing individual’s greatness and service to his country. Are there not a lot of great accountants and lumberjacks who pass on as well?

Chad: Karen does the dishes and vacuums the floors for a living, doesn’t that make u a hero? No! Go save lives, and protect humans from criminals. I bet you weren’t loved as a child. Karen is ignorant and shouldn’t be allowed to blog.

Karen: My deceased father, a career firefighter, also despised the fixation with propping up police and fire personnel as the demigods of public security and welfare. He disliked the media exaltation and he refused to attend a mass funeral of one of his own with lines of fire trucks and police cars, with lights ablaze, blocking and parading down the streets to broadcast that a hero has passed. He chose to quietly visit the funeral parlor instead.

Chad: Your dad was a good man for sure but I would be a bottle of your pain killers and a bottle of your beloved scotch that you must drink tons of that you misunderstood the comments. Karen is ignorant. Stick to housekeeping.