Pardon me

When the bomb went off at the Boston marathon this past week, the films of the event showed many bystanders fleeing the danger, and responders running towards the bomb site to render aid. Every responder in the country has had to attend terrorism awareness classes, and are all aware that a common tactic is for bombers to use a secondary device that detonates a few minutes later, in an attempt to injure responders. Yet, time and again, you see the people that are our first responders running towards the danger.

There were more than a few reporters and commentators that took note of this. Borepatch even shows the crowd at a Bruins game singing the national anthem and showing respect to the responders of Boston.

I'm not impressed.

I remember that exact show of national pride and support for responders in the days after 9/11. It was nice to feel like people knew about the sacrifices that we as responders make every day. It isn't just the big events like 9/11 or Boston. It isn't about the exploding fertilizer plants, or the idiots that ambush and shoot responders. It is the every day dangers that they face. Nearly 300 responders a year lose their lives in the protection of others.

Within 6 months of 9/11, the signs of respect stopped. By 2008, I was hearing about how we were the greedy people who got overpaid and under worked and were ripping off the taxpayer. They cut our pay, our pensions, and there is even a bill that would keep my family from receiving death benefits if I am killed in the line of duty.

So excuse me if I am not impressed with your show of support. I know it will fade in about six months, and you will go back to watching Kim Kardashian make $80,000 a week and complaining how firefighters, police, and paramedics are overpaid.