My Lesson Learned: Wash the Truck

(Credit: Dan Coody)

Let me preface this with the fact that my department does not solely do wildland. We are a small rural, all-hazards department. That being said leadership is everywhere all the time, it’s kind of like the force. The headline says it, "Wash the Truck." It’s a small issue that I analyzed to get to the root of the problem, and I’d be lying if I said that finger wasn’t pointing directly right back at me. 

1. Today I found myself washing our squad apparatus with our special equipment in it. It was filthy; it had been filthy for some time. 
2. I found myself, as I am cleaning, wondering how it got dirty. The squad typically has minimal responses throughout the year. Well the end of the year is typically busy because at my agency we have proficiency testing, a large multi-company drill put on by the Assistant Chief where personnel have no idea what to expect. We recently had a technical rescue proficiency. My shift was the first to be evaluated out of three shifts. B shift was the following day and A shift the day after that. Yup, I’m a C shifter. The drill was great. We functioned well. I was proud. It was abnormally hot for us this time of year, and that’s coming from an Arizonan. I told myself we will wash the truck later when it “cools down” besides we just rocked that drill man, come on take a minute you “earned it”!
3. Well “cools down” turned into “Why wash it?” if tomorrow is the same drill? So, I didn’t and presented the truck in the dirty condition to B shift with that explanation, which in all honesty seems petty to me now.
4. B shift had their drill, and it went A-OK. B shift also adopted the pass the buck along mentality.
5. Welcome to A shift; I dunno they all must have stayed up too late or ate some bad chicken or something because this was not “A shift” it was ABC shift. Due to the circumstances that arose in staffing the third drill was postponed. The truck stayed dirty. The truck was dirty for over two weeks and three different shifts. Multiple personnel looked at this thing every day. The third drill still hasn’t been completed yet and there was almost resentment as to who was responsible for washing the truck.

Petty like I said. 

As I was washing this thing, I began to think back; the realization hit me, this was my fault. I am the senior company officer at my station. I am typically the “by the book” guy. The guy who is dirty within 10 minutes of being at the station because I hit the door running; no job too small and I typically don’t pass by problems without giving them attention. I am literally known for this. The guys at my station gave me a coffee mug with the nickname "Pig-pen" on it as a joke because I keep everything else clean but my uniform. Oh yeah and, :Hi my name is Daniel, and I like clean trucks." 

This was not the case though. I, for whatever reason, didn’t do the right thing and caused this entire chain of events. The only benefit I found to this issue is recognizing what I did wrong to not repeat the mistake and the fact that I am the one cleaning the truck, I guess karma is real. She’s clean now. 

(Harish Sharma/Pixabay)

What in the heck was I thinking? 

1. A dirty truck that I walked by, a simple problem I could have corrected earlier numerous times but didn’t. 
2. I used “cools down” as an excuse, a moment in weakness to take a break rather than wash the truck. This job owes me nothing. I need to show I belong here every day, I need to “earn it”, earn it being the right to be here. 
3. I passed the buck, even if the drills went on a scheduled what shift would appreciate being the last shift left to clean three shifts worth of filth? I’d be ahh...well… pissed off at the least. 
4. The following day B shift fell criminal to what I would say is normalized deviance. I set the wrong standard to kick the whole thing off, they fell in line, and well you read the article = dirty truck. Had I have completed the drill, cleaned the truck before passing it off, I would have bet money I would not have had to wash that truck today. 
5. This is another excuse, “Ah-um-well… were just waiting for A shift to finish up their drill, then they will clean it.” Also see #3.

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About the Author: Dan Coody is a captain, paramedic, and ENGB for a rural, all-hazards fire department. The expressions are those of the author.