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Who the fuck thanks cops for their service? Is this some kind of American thing??
Some Americans worship cops as a part of their political identity. They're the "Free-thinkers" that all seem to act identically and get their opinions handed down to them from US Reich wing media and internet personalities.
One thing about this post though is that the police DO protect and serve, it's just who they're protecting and serving (hint: it's the wealthy and their businesses)
I highly recommend the six part mini series Robert Evans did called "Behind the Police" as a subset of his "Behind the Bastards" podcast.
I recommend A Tradition of Violence about the LA police gangs. Behind the police was....insightful
Even Throughline had a history of policing episode (NPR, so liberals); and even their takeaway from what I remember was: police just come from slave patrols and solely exist to maintain existing power structures.
I think I have a verso book “End of Policing” by vitals, but have gotten around to reading it yet … and maybe I should!
You’ll also hear a lot of stories from people in the service industry about cops expecting not to have to pay for food/coffee when they go out to shops, and getting indignant when they are still asked to pay after flashing their badge.
A lot of coffee/donut/pastry shops offer “service discounts” to cops, firefighters, and paramedics. It really took off after 9/11.
My so is a paramedic. They deserve it. Terrible working conditions. General shitty pay versus their responsibilities. City crews are overworked. Most calls are unnecessary. Police shove off any psych emergency calls to them. In the same sketchy situations as police and firefighters. Firefighters get all the glory and general do nothing compared to paramedics and the ambulance crew. Firefighters just act as first responders. So would work 12 hours and do nearly dozen calls... Creating overtime.. in the truck for all those hours. Just my opinion.
My father is a long-time firefighter in a major city and this comment reads like you have no idea what firefighters actually do if you think they "do nothing compared to paramedics and the ambulance crew". They're two sides of the same coin and both of them are vital to rescue operations, but firefighters aren't just some dudes who roll up and pour a bucket of water on a campfire and drive away. They're EMTs, too, and often participate in casualty care when paramedics are busy or otherwise not on scene. Do nothing, my ass.
Sounds like your hearing what your dad wants you to hear. The same I could say from my so. So let's leave it at that.
Odd that someone who has performed CPR on infants, to doing their best to save someone from multiple gunshot wounds, to scraping motorists off of asphalt is "just telling me what I want to hear" when he doesn't make out like his job is any more or less important than his teammates on the ambulance. He loves and respects those dudes because they're his teammates and they work together. But yeah, must be that you just hear what they want you to hear, so let's go ahead and leave it like that, as you said.
I'd just add that paramedics have a wider area to cover, and are usually stretched to a breaking point.