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Our Opinion: Much respect

It’s been a tough week for the city police and fire departments.

To say the least.

After saying goodbye to a friend and partner on Tuesday, they were called out early Thursday morning to respond to a fire at a local business.

A fire that destroyed a local business that has been a staple of our community for decades, and one that sent an injured responder to the hospital.

“…To the Firefighters, local police and 1st responders that responded so quickly, from all over battling this massive fire, putting your own lives at risk to protect those surrounding the area,” said a post on the Times Observer Facebook site early Thursday morning.

“THANK YOU!! I pray the injured responder makes a quick & full recovery! You all are true Heros!

“Listening to it unfold on our scanner…hearing the exhaustion & desperation in the men’s voices…leaves you very heavy-hearted.”

It’s easy to take the thin blue and thin red lines for granted.

This week, let’s make sure we do not.

A city police officer, himself, told me this week that “Attaboys” are rare in his line of work.

He said, sure, he’s human, so they are nice to hear, but that’s not why he puts on the uniform every day.

And, “… our oath doesn’t just stop at the community we serve,” he said.

“This is what makes the ‘blue line family’ unique. I have thousands of brothers and sisters I don’t even know who would die for me, and me for them.”

Much respect.

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