Just a Gwai Lo - fun within prescribed limits

Douglas Gantenbein calls bullshit on the notion of firefighters as heroes: “Of course there are hazards, and about 100 firefighters die each year. But firefighting doesn't make the Department of Labor's 2002 list of the 10 most dangerous jobs in America. Loggers top that one, followed by commercial fishermen in the No. 2 spot, and general-aviation commercial pilots (crop dusters and the like) at No. 3. Firefighting trails truck-driving (No. 10) in its risks. Pizza delivery drivers (No. 5) have more dangerous jobs than firefighters, statistically speaking.”

That's a complaint my dad has, as a representative for a forestry union. More forest workers die than, say, police officers while on the job, but forestry workers don't get parades when a co-worker dies. (I say police officers because it doesn't seem like firefighters are as likely to get parades in Canada.) I'm not sure that forest workers want a parade for when their co-workers die. A funeral usually suffices, and my dad has to attend too many of them.