so a very long time ago, my dad worked with an arson investigator
this guy was often one of the first people on the scene following a suspected arson, once emergency services had done what they needed to do. at times, there were also civilians on the periphery. often, they were freaking out, and understandably so; their home or workplace had just, quite literally, gone up in smoke
this investigator wouldnât try to calm them down. he wouldnât comfort them or be a shoulder to cry on.
instead, heâd walk up to the person most visibly losing their shit, hand them a fire extinguisher, and say âhey, can you keep an eye out for any other fires, and if you see one, can you put it out with this?â
of course, there was no actual risk of another fire. he wouldnât be on the scene investigating if there was even a chance that the fire wasnât completely put out. but the bystander didnât need to know that
because that person, without fail, would immediately pull it together, take the fire extinguisher, and stand guard. they were, at least temporarily, calm enough for this investigator to do this job
my dad has told me the parable of the fire extinguisher a hundred times, and i think about it a lot. i think about what it says about people and crises. i think about what it says about the grounding power of having a purpose. and i think about the importance of letting someone help me through something, even if that help is just going to be another casserole to throw into the freezer, because useless or not, that fire extinguisher might be the only thing holding them together
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