Video: Fire Truck Stuck on Columbia Place

Note to readers: I do challenge criticism so if you hate when commenters go back and forth on a trivial point, please ignore this as I try to answer each point of criticism mentioned above, which can help in case others share his/her thoughts. I usually take criticism seriously (rather than ‘just getting over it), so excuse the long reply.

@4fortwo, please let me assure you that the commentary was non existent on the inability for firefighters to ‘drive a truck’. It was much more on the condition of the streets and the incredulity/irony of a fire truck being incapacitated due to the snow (after hearing recent reports, I see it is no longer that unbelievable)

I don’t believe any viewers will watch and say ‘stupid firefighters!’ Rather, I’m confident they’ll say ‘now that was a crazy blizzard. A fire truck got stuck!’

Was it my suggestion of ‘going backwards,’ that earned your critical response? I suppose my immediate correction of that poor suggestion didn’t help you see my intent was observantly sincere. I suppose it could have been my inner dialog escaping via commentary on ” there must be a better way to do this” and subsequent surprise that there wasn’t training on such a situation.

Occasion calls for a check on humor. I don’t believe this to be one of them. There was no danger or irreversible consequences. Just a fire truck trying to get out of snow being filmed by a neighbor who expressed both sympathy and humor in the crazy situation.

It is common amongst commentators to form an immediate castigation of a poster and rely upon their powers to judge one’s intent solely on actions mostly removed from context (i.e. amateur filming). My suggestion is to err on the side of one’s sincerity, first, even if that someone chooses to add levity to the situation (i.e. ‘that’s why they fight fires and not snow’).

To answer your rhetoric, I have zero miles behind a fire truck and nor was I trying to put down those firefighters who were out there. I felt sorry for them to be stuck at 2:30 in the morning (as commented in the video), but found it interesting enough to film something I’ve never seen in 30 years: a fire truck stuck in the snow, which serves as evidence of a.) how poorly these streets were plowed and b.) how severe the blizzard actually was.

Additionally, I respect firefighters immensely (something I’m proud to say we both have in common) and realize clearly that I would be of ZERO net effect in an attempt to help the firefighters so I can feel better about myself or so that individuals who watch my video don’t accuse me of being insensitive.

Also, the smoke was from the tires burning, not from a fire (I tried to annotate that in the video, but it will not appear for some reason).

If you were standing next to me, I assure you, you’d feel better about my intent.

On a similar note, I have another great video to share on 2 sanitation trucks stuck today on Columbia, with a larger display of light commentary that I hope you’ll enjoy, now that you may better appreciate my intentions.

I think tarekp’s videos and the one of the Joralemon/Hicks debacle are of some interest, but I could do without the banter/narration: the videos speak for themselves, and the random “Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen” asides, almost like some attempt at stand-up, and overall snarky, are-they-kidding tone, are just annoying. The “voice-overs” make the videos almost as much about the camera-witness as about the moment.

Although they obviously document different kinds if “snapshots,” one of the things that makes Karl Junkerfeld’s pieces so good is that he doesn’t feel the need to endlessly “over-talk.”

I think it is interesting that people have commented about the meta-commentary of the various videos. As for me personally, I have been thinking about a comment at the beginning of the Joralemon/Hicks Street video since I first heard it. Toward the beginning of the video the narrator says something along the lines of “What are you a retard?”.

Generally I am not one of these politically correct people, but my thinking has been evolving on this topic over the past few years. In my work as a Disability Rights Attorney and cohost of a radio program called The Largest Minority, I have seen firsthand how using the term “retard” has a very definite hurtful impact on some people. For people with developmental disabilities, this is like using the “N-word” or any other such pejoratives.

I am not advocating for or endorsing any kind of official censorship or thought police, but simply offer this as an observation and explanation. I think that censorship should only come from within. Further, I am not offering any opinion about the motives or intent of the person that made this comment. Most people do not intentionally use personal or offensive language.