California Wild Fires

Wow, once again we have had a fire, which has caused structural damage. How upsetting, and how typical of California living. I have never been afraid of earthquakes, growing up in California, you learn that it is a part of life. But, now that I live in the Santa Monica Mountains, I am petrified of fires.

What does this have to do with complaining you ask? Well, I have noted an interesting trend to the aftermath of fires. If there is no structural damage, everyone is a hero and whew another bullet dodged. But, when there is structural damage, instantly finger pointing and blaming is done. Blaming is in a way, worse the complaining. I wonder does it help to blame? What does that do? Maybe it gives the blamer their 15 minutes of fame. Who knows.

The last fire that was close to me, some of the locals blamed the firefighter response. When a fire sweeps down a hillside and engulfs homes in less then 30 minutes from the time it was reported, what could the firefighters do? They did indeed save more houses then they lost and in my mind they were heroes. The complainer received their 15 minutes of fame, by complaining, then retracting their complaint. The firefighters put their life on the line every time and what do they get in response? Complaints and blaming.

The last fire, though not near my home, was near where I used to work and close to several friends homes. Another home was lost, so this time the complaint was that the city didn't clear their brush, thus it was the city's fault that the house burned. For those of you that don't live in this area, we are required to clear a certain percentage of brush around our homes to protect them. Normally we have until May 1st or June 1st to clear it. This year due to lack of rain, some areas are already dry. I wonder when the area near Beverly/Glen that burned, was due to be cleared? Probably not until later, yet due to someones complaint, someone might lose their job or at the least the city receives a black eye.

Again, where am I going with this? Just a way to show you that complaining may be more pervasive and damaging then we thought. By complaining about someone or something, do you ever stop to think that what you just said may effect someones job or life? Just a thought.