People love firemen … but

Most people love firemen and the job they do. But in these very hard economic times, the firefighter unions ought to recognize how they are beginning to appear to the general public. Consider, for example, this note from an R-J reader:
   
"You gotta love the firefighters who are only being asked to forgo a cost of living increase, not have their wages cut, and refuse.
 
"What the RJ should do is take a week’s worth of fire calls and find out how busy firefighters really are….my guess is the paramedics are busy enough but the guys who man the hoses don’t have much to do at all other than fix chili and collect for Jerry’s kids. There just aren’t that many fires in Las Vegas, and the hotels all have sprinklers."

I'm not sayin' that's a fair reaction, but I think it's fair to say it is a growing reaction.