Boss: I’d rather employ a paedo than a veteran

[Brazen]

At a slight tangent, would you employ an ex-con? My other half worked in Wandsworth nick as a chef for a bit and said if ever he owns his own restaurant he'll follow Gordon Ramsay's lead and employ a former lag, whatever they did to get there.

Personally, I have problems with prison's record of rehabilitation and wouldn't have it in me to employ a murderer, paedophile or rapist. Actually, not even a thief. There go my left-wing credentials.

[Agelastus]

Firemen - overpayed muscular people that sleep all day waiting for fires.

That was the general consensus amongst the police I've talked to.  They didn't think it was fair that the fire guys didn't have to work unless there was a fire and they had to work all the time.

NOTE:  This may not be the opinion of police everywhere.  Just here.  Also the firemen here once burned down their own fire station one Christmas morning.

This demands further explanation!

As for respect for the Army, Police and Fire Service in Britain?

Well, I think the Fireservice are seen as "just there", no more or less respected than a teacher, priest or doctor, none of which profession generates any strong feelings these days.

The police? I am a law abiding citizen, and yet I dislike passing a policeman. There's no reason for this; it is just an atavistic reaction to the uniform, I think. I appreciate the need for the police but I dislike the presence, the aura if you will. The police are not well respected in Britain, in my opinion, and that has been true since the corruption scandals broke in the Seventies.

As for the army? Well, before the last couple of years I would have rated them as having as much respect as the fireservice, a "just there" organisation that is useful when needed. I personally felt a great deal more respect for them because of my studies in history and my own blatant national pride. The reaction of the people of Wooton Basset and other localities have made me reconsider my opinion, though. I suspect, with the police historically, and politicians currently, tarnished in the public mind that the Armed Forces are the most respected institution in the UK.

[Brazen]

I "respect" firemen. I especially respect them posing naked bar the hats in calendars, wielding phallic hoses.

[Martinus]

At a slight tangent, would you employ an ex-con?

It depends if he is hot.

[Martinus]

For the record, I have no problem with hot, relatively young ex-soldiers either. I would probably think twice about hiring an older (say 40+) ex-veteran (assuming he was in the army for a considerable period of time) because I think he could be psychologically fucked up and wouldn't "play well with others".

[Neil]

I would never, ever hire a gay.  They're lazy and unreliable.

[The Larch]

That was an observation I made to Capetan Mihali when I met him in Philly in October, and later to Minsky as well, but extended it to reverence to authority in general, including police and firemen. I was meant to create an inflammatory thread about it but never got around to do it.   

I get why there would be little to no reverence for the military in most of Europe (and quite frankly, too much reverence for the military is downright dangerous).  But no reverence for police and firemen?  Or do you mean to say there's no more reverence for police and firemen than there is for other types of valued civil servants such as doctors?

It's not that they get disrespected in Europe (as Yi and Mart said police may still provoke bad memories in some places, but that's a different thing), but that I felt that they were exageratedly respected in the States.

[The Larch]

Ok... but firemen?

Personal experience during my trip. I got to witness two separate firemen events in NY while I was there, some kind of get together in a small church next to St John the Divine, in the Upper West Side, and a massive event in the Rockefeller Center. For me it was really bizarre to see firemen getting so much attention and for them to be wearing elaborate uniforms, akin to military officers. Over here they're much more low profile. I concede that NY, after 9/11, may be a special case.

[Admiral Yi]

When there's a car crash the fire truck shows up here in addition to the ambulance.  Is the same true in your strange and exotic land?

[grumbler]

I am sure that one of the reasons why the military and police are more respected in the US is that, in the US, they are seen as servants of the people, doing useful things, just like paramedics and firefighters.  In Europe, the idea that the people are the masters of "public servants" is barely a generation old in some countries, and not many generations old in the others.  As Europe's political system matures and the populace gets more comfortable with the idea of the rule of the people, I think they will take on the more mature attitude of Americans towards their public servants (especially those that risk themselves in public service).  It isn't reverence, by any means, though.  The word you are looking for is "appreciation."

[Grey Fox]

Around here, that's pretty new & it's only because there isn't enough  regular Paramedics that they have started forming the firemen for it.

[Caliga]

At a slight tangent, would you employ an ex-con? My other half worked in Wandsworth nick as a chef for a bit and said if ever he owns his own restaurant he'll follow Gordon Ramsay's lead and employ a former lag, whatever they did to get there.

Well, if you are asking theoretically, then I certainly would consider one in certain cases, depending on the nature of the conviction, how exclusive the applicant's skills were, and so forth.

But every organization I've worked for has had certain strict rules about what sort of ex-con you can and cannot hire.  For example, a convicted sex offender is always a blanket no-no, regardless of the nature of the crime (yes, even the 19 year old doing the 17 year old that makes Marti froth so much).  Illegal drug convictions are sometimes ok depending on the type (possession vs. trafficking) and severity.  DUIs almost always pass muster unless the person has a pattern of multiple DUI convictions.

[The Larch]

When there's a car crash the fire truck shows up here in addition to the ambulance.  Is the same true in your strange and exotic land?

Yup.

Anecdote: The buddy that hosted me in NY complained that the firemen of his nearest precint made outings quite frequently, for the flimsiest things, always with their sirens blazing, even in the middle of the night, and that it annoyed him a lot because they always woke him up when they did so.

[Caliga]

It was like that when I lived in Boston, too.

Now I live in a place where nothing bad ever happens.

Seriously... I've been on 'jury duty' since January 21st but there hasn't yet been a single trial for which a jury was needed.

[dps]

At a slight tangent, would you employ an ex-con? My other half worked in Wandsworth nick as a chef for a bit and said if ever he owns his own restaurant he'll follow Gordon Ramsay's lead and employ a former lag, whatever they did to get there.

Well, if you are asking theoretically, then I certainly would consider one in certain cases, depending on the nature of the conviction, how exclusive the applicant's skills were, and so forth.

But every organization I've worked for has had certain strict rules about what sort of ex-con you can and cannot hire.  For example, a convicted sex offender is always a blanket no-no, regardless of the nature of the crime (yes, even the 19 year old doing the 17 year old that makes Marti froth so much).  Illegal drug convictions are sometimes ok depending on the type (possession vs. trafficking) and severity.  DUIs almost always pass muster unless the person has a pattern of multiple DUI convictions.

The different employers that I've worked for have been all over the place as far as their policies towards hiring ex-cons.  Almost nobody wants to hire a thief, though;  a convicted murderer probably has better job prospects than a convicted thief.