People joke about how you better not stiff these guys, because they might hold it against you and ignore your call if you should ever need their help. I doubt that's true but it would be rude to not pony up and deny them the chance to give you a copy of their specially-designed calendar.
It might make sense to go with the old standard and use pictures on the calendar that make it something cheery to hang on a wall: flowers or puppies or local chateaux or firefighters in provocative poses.
But that would all be too random, too ordinary. I'm not sure what it's like in other towns and villages in France, but around here the calendars are absolutely literal: burning houses, cars turned upside down in flames, vans wrapped around light poles. They'd show one of the men in blue getting a kitten out of a tree but that would probably be too cutesy and might bring a smile and a warm fuzzy feeling - this is cold, hard firefighter reality and if you want to be reminded of where your donation is going, just check out the head-on collision for March.
I celebrate the sapeurs-pompiers and their calendar. I hope that none of the lurid photos in this year's version involved any injuries or loss of life - would they have remembered to ask permission to use the photos?
I'm a little miffed they left out the exploding woodburner.
4 comments:
Just like that in the Loire too...men tackling blazing infernos in Star Wars garb offered by the mild fire brigade sergeant with spectacles...
I guess that's what I figured, Fly - that that's how it's done all over. And if you pointed out the oddness (ie do people really want to hang pictures of totaled cars and houses burnt to the ground in their kitchens?) he'd look at you funny.
That is mighty strange....but so strange that I'd almost want a copy.
And the woodburner incident should've been referenced on the cover!
- Erica
We'll save you one Erica - though it might be a little out of date by the time we see you.
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