Image or Substance: What's It Going to Be?

Like all of you, I have lived the majority of my adult life in the company of firefighters, their friends, and their families. My travels frequently take me to places where firefighters gather. Like all other special interest groups, we in the fire service feel the need to come together to swap stories, share our knowledge, and enjoy the companionship of our fellow travels in the emergency service world. I guess it is just human nature for firefighting birds of a feather to enjoy flocking together.

During a recent visit to a major conference, I began to experience what might generally be called some "bad vibes.