Where Was ThePoop When the Lights Went Out?

In the dark. The lights briefly went out in my office (though the computers stayed on) when a 20-year old woman lost control of her car, took out a utility pole and the transformers exploded.

The car was engulfed in flames but some brave policemen pulled the driver from the burning car.

Amazingly she escaped with injuries that weren't considered serious.

Look at that car, she is lucky to be alive never mind not permanently disfigured. None of the rescuers were injured.

Fiddling While the Trailer Burns

Last year I wrote about a town in Tennessee where firefighters allowed a resident's home to burn down because he had not paid the $75 annual fire fee.
Some people will never learn. Another resident in the same county, Obion County, had her trailer burn down because she hadn't paid the mandatory fee to the fire department of neighboring South Fulton.
Let's recap: Obion is too small for its own fire department. Nearby South Fulton is willing to respond to fire calls there, if its residents pay a $75 fee each year.
Like it or not, you'd think Vicky Bell would have paid the fee after reading about Gene Crasnick. Crasnick's house burned down and the fire department didn't intervene because he hadn't paid the fee.
Now the same thing happened to Bell's trailer.



Here's the bottom line: when someone tells you "if you don't do this, this might happen" and you still don't do it, then you are accepting the consequences.
Especially, the second time around. Bell had warning. She chose to gamble that her trailer would never catch fire, she lost.
It's unfortunate (and again, if people were in danger the firefighters would have helped) but the system wouldn't work any other way.
You can't charge people after the fact because it would still probably not be enough to cover expenses from fighting the fire, because the fire department costs money just to operate, waiting for a fire.
And if you charged an exorbitant fee, these poor rubes wouldn't be able to pay it.

It comes back to the debate which is tearing apart our country right now: the responsibilities of the individual versus the responsibilities of the society to aid the individual.

We have become way to reliant on others and we need to restore personal responsibility.

Burning Down the House

Here's the story that's igniting a fierce debate around the nation right now.
Firefighters in Tennessee stood by while the home of Gene Cranick burned to the ground, killing his 3 dogs and 1 cat.
The firefighters from South Fulton responded to the fire but didn't put it out because Cranick hadn't paid his fire fee. He lives outside the city of South Fulton and therefore doesn't pay taxes to support the firefighters. Instead, those residents were told, for an annual fee of $75, the South Fulton Fire Department would respond if the need ever arose.
His neighbor paid the fee, so when the fire spread to his home, firefighters quickly extinguished it.
At first Cranick said he simply forgot to pay the fee, but now it comes out that they sent him a letter and called him.
It's clear Cranick felt that he would never need firemen so he didn't pay the fee. And he clearly thought if there ever was a fire, they'd put it out anyway.

And there's where the debate comes in. Democrats are calling this extreme capitalism where life-saving and property-saving services are only provided to those who can and will pay.
Most people say humanity should have prevailed (and it would have if a person had been trapped) and they should have put of the fire and maybe charged him an exorbitant fee afterwards.

I say it's all Cranick's fault. I bring up personal responsibility again. Cranick was given a choice, pay for a service, or don't get the service. He chose to gamble, he lost. He needs to live with the consequences. If the SFFD bailed out Cranick it would send a message that no one ever need pay the fire fee. An optional fee wouldn't work and the Fire Department would incur huge losses and not be able to help the people who actually pay to support it.