"Thank you for your service"
A little bit of a rant coming. I'm in a mood. I've spent this shift with a crap partner who should have retired during the first world war, who's views are that women belong in the kitchen and not in his ambulance. I am logged as the attending paramedic tonight due to the fact that he refuses to let me drive because I am a woman. His responses are grunts tonight. What set him off was a patient's daughter, thanking us for our service. For some reason, this frustrates a lot of us. It's like thanking us for going through trauma, seeing the things we do, it's not something that thanks you would even cover. We don't do this job for a thank you, we do this job to save lives. The life being saved or call going well is plenty of thanks for me. Another thing that bothers me, and I've seen it a million times around here, is when us paramedics come and talk about bad calls or sadness we get told to just quit our jobs and if we all quit because of a bad call there would be no one to answer to the publics emergencies. If seeing the things we see didn't affect us we would be monsters.. please think about this before you tell me to quit my job because I had a bad shift.
@Mamabearmedic- so sorry to hear about your coworker being sexist. I truly am grateful for the work emt's/paramedics do in this world. People should bow and kiss your feet- especially now. Hugs to you.
@Mamabearmedic massively agree with you here mate... especially as the thanks usually comes from a good place, its hard to explain how it doesn't help to hear that. It is just like thanking us for experiencing trauma. It would be unthinkable for someone who has experienced a sexual assult to say "thank you for your service" to them, but for some reason its common practice to thank us. It can feel wrong to be so uncomfortable when someone thanks us, particularly when we are reaching out for support and they are trying to be kind. It's good to know we are not alone in experiencing this unease in this sort of situation.
@Mamabearmedic-i read your post again- insightful about hearing "thank you"- put your work in a new perspective. It is human nature to show appreciation when someone saves your life- or eases the trauma of an accident. Any suggestions how we on 7 cups can show support to you.
Artwork by Luis Quiles
This image immediately made me think of this post, so thought it was worth adding here!
@RicochetJaguar
Yep! Totally agree with this picture.
What would you like to hear?
