Heroes or not Heroes

I think if I hear the term “Hero” one more time I’m going to puke! Every time a fireman or policeman makes a move they are called heroes. The guys that rescued the dog from the L.A. River are heroes. Now, the teams coming back from Haiti are heroes! Who the hell isn’t a hero anymore?

Are the fishermen who risk their lives so we can put dinner on the table heroes? How about the Caltran workers who risk their lives and periodically get killed working on our freeways, are they heroes too? Gosh, lets not forget those daring men who risk life and limb cutting trees so we can have lumber to build our homes with, under the new and liberal definition of hero, they should be included also. Come to think of it, I could have been killed on the freeway today when I drove to the golf course, I must be a hero too!

While it is ok to give people the adulation they deserve, they are not necessarily, heroes. They get paid to do the job they are doing and are trained for it. Some jobs are just, by nature, more risky than others but the risk is known going in.

By my understanding, a hero is a person who reacts bravely in a situation he or she is not accustomed to. A civilian who rushes into a burning building to save a life is a hero, not the fireman who is trained and only doing his job. It’s that “spur of the moment” reaction when personal safety is at risk that produces heroes. I wish we would quit cheapening the word by overusing it so that it has real meaning when it is applied.