Ray Bradbury must have been picturing a scene like this in Fahrenheit 451. But this isn’t fiction, it’s real and this is America. A house with life, with four household animals, burned to the ground. Impossible, was my reaction. I thought that living in the land of the free meant that it came with some privileges or some rights that would make me safe.
The house had burned because the owners had not paid $75 for such emergency services. Having forgotten the fee, they were forgotten by the firefighters. Even though the owners had offered any sum of money in exchange for the service of dousing the blaze, the firefighters refused. They stood there and watched. The family learned that day that the country does not allow room for mistakes.
Growing up, whenever I heard the loud sirens outside, I would always sigh a sigh of relief, because I knew, without knowing it, that another life or another family was saved. That was one of the best things about being an American, I thought. The idea that 911 is always there for you, no matter what, they’re there to save lives. Isn’t that what it all comes down to? As special as 911 is and as exclusive as it is, it is also a meaning of hope as well as optimism. The powerful words, “Thank you, you saved my life” are words that can’t be transformed into dollars or euros or yens. The emergency services are icons of hope in times of great desperation. Even as a young girl, reading picture books and looking outside the window, the ambulance and its colorful siren was a sign of help. The siren was a song singing, “Don’t worry, I’m here to help.” That very siren that never dies has always been a distinct part of our lives whether we realize it or not. We live our daily lives knowing that help is only a phone call away. In turn we not only live more hopeful lives, but optimistic and productive. After all, we are optimistic in the sight of danger or threats. We are also far more confident about our country because we know that we have services that assure our citizens’ safety.
Another implication could be (as gruesome as it may sound), violent criminals getting a hold of a list of the homes that did not pay and burning them all, and nobody would be able to do a thing about it. Are we ready to let this happen?
Understandably, due to the current state of the economy more politicians are pushing for this option of turning people into customers. Breathing on the people of the United States to pay separately for the insurance of their safety and their lives. Maybe it’s the most logical option for us to surrender to this idea, but a philosopher once said that our decisions are not results of our reason, but of our emotions. Have you ever given money to charity out of reason? Frankly, isn’t it unreasonable to give money away? So, maybe we ought to look into our emotions and really figure out what is our priority and what we are willing to lose. Because, that little girl who is looking through the window for the red truck to appear is slowly moving away from the window.
Payments for emergency should not be an option. We need to speak up and make sure that it stays implanted within our taxes or not at all.
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