Acronyms

We use a lot of acronyms in the Firehouse. It's normal. We don't have time to talk... especially at certain times when we are in the middle of a fire or emergency or just plain lazy. Some of us here know AMS (American Sign Language) since Sheena learned it many years ago to "talk" with the deaf and we picked up on it. We know we aren't supposed to enter a scene without being equipped with a SCBA (Self Contained Breathing Apparatus). And Heaven forbid should we forget our PASS (Personal Alert Safety System). For sure CHAOS (Chief Has Arrived On Scene) would have our hides. ("Chaos" is Sheena's nickname here).

Today we learned a new acronym.... it didn't have much to do with Firefighters (or did it?)

We have a BSNM room in our Firehouse. Let me explain a thing or two. A Firehouse of all men can endure anything. We are all the same. But when a woman is involved in the Firehouse, everything changes. This is not necessarily a BAD thing..... it just means we need to change everything about us me. And we did. Actually, we didn't have a choice.

When Sheena first came to the Firehouse, she was the only woman. We have gone through periods of other female Firefighters and Paramedics with our department but those were short lived days. Various reasons kept them from remaining with us... mostly it was for our "personal safety" as Sheena would say. Women have a nice way of wording things!!!

Seriously. Sheena has been pretty much correct in her intuitions in the past but as men we wish she could just be wrong ONCE! (Ok, maybe a few times just to be on par with us!)

Back to the acronyms. We have this room in our Firehouse called the BSNM room.

This is a room where you go to sit down immediately. You MUST take a seat! If you do this, you don't have to worry about any other thing. There is no TV in this room but you can read the paper or a magazine should you desire. No one will come scold you and you won't have to fix the room up when you are done. No one will have to invest in cleaning costs and none of your workmates will have to do "caper duty." Mind you, it is SITTING ROOM only! This room will make anyone happy... except the male that is forced to sit down but he will eventually get used to it. Hopefully.

BSNM stands for Be Seated No Mess. This is the acronym she gave our common bathroom.

Wonder what's next?