And this is news why?

 


From the nobody cares department: Four women were scheduled last week at the Hollywood Palace Fire Station on Abbott Rd. What could have been a meaningless news story, evolved into an even more meaningless publicity stunt for the Keanes (formerly of South Buffalo)...

The scheduling of four women on Engine 4 happened unintentionally as a result of call-ins and vacations.
For the four women, three firefighters and one lieutenant, the day felt like a normal one but included better conversation and more laughter.

"We've been laughing since we came in the door this morning," said Lt. Kate Keane.

"Call-ins" seems to be a unique term reserved for police and fire positions. At most jobs (including most civil service jobs), if you call in so many times, eventually you won't have a job to call in to. In any event, this story is pointless, even by the Buffalo News' low standards. The Keane infomercial continues for a few more paragraphs...

And although Keane, the lieutenant, didn't plan to be a firefighter, she ended up following in the footsteps of her mother. Margaret Keane was part of Buffalo's first class of female firefighters and the first female deputy commissioner of the department. Keane was planning to become a teacher but decided on a whim to take the test with Burke, she said.

Keane's father was also a fireman for about two weeks before he went off to serve in Vietnam, err, I mean Thailand. Now he's taken all of our tax dollars down to Florida, but once in awhile resides in Orchard Park. I think these women are terrific role models for the next generation of the South Buffalo entitled elite. They should go to Mt. Mercy and speak directly to the next generation of political families and their friends. They can tell them what South Buffalo bars to frequent during their college years and which politicians they need to grease right away to get hired for their "pre-firefighting" position (dispatcher, teacher's aide, city office clerk, etc). They can give speeches on exactly when the right time to make the "South Buffalo phone call" to Brian Higgins is and when it would better serve them to give Byron a call.  For the girls from the non-political families with similar education, they can help them set more realistic goals (cashier at WalMart, JC Penney's, or leaving the area, for example.)
 
If the News wanted to do a story on affirmative action, why not do a story on the great success it's had on our neighborhood schools? Since Judge Curtin decided to singlehandedly save the world, people have fled the suburbs to Buffalo to enroll their kids in its superior public schools. His integration program had the exact opposite effect. The schools in the suburbs are nearly 100% white.

By the way, if my house is on fire, don't even bother. These four women (or most guys for that matter) couldn't carry my fat ass out if their lives depended on it. 
For one shift, the changing face of Buffalo firefighting