Well... actually now I wish in some cases I hadn't intervened. I was always the one telling everybody to think it twice, to not fight, to bla bla bla but talking about real interventions there's one specific event in my life around that time that I can't help to wonder how it might've turned out if I hadn't done anything.
When I was 13 my dad was in deep trouble, one time, one of his workshops got mugged and I got there when it was happening, I ran to a neighbor's house, told them to call the cops and went back to the workshop. They hadn't seen me yet but I saw how they had my dad and one of my older brothers who worked with him with a knife on their necks, I got really scared, really mad and I ran and jumped on the back of the guy who had my dad and started kicking, screaming and pulling his hair, he let go of my dad but the other guy who had my brother put him on the ground and started beating the hell out of him, the man I was on top of only gave me minor bruises and a superficial cut with his knife before the cops got there, but my brother who was around 18 at the time got it pretty bad, I've always felt very guilty about it, it was my fault and I often wish I hadn't reacted so impulsively.
That was really rather spectacularly brave. I'm not just saying that to make you feel better: the fact that the one dirty fought your brother, rather than come to his buddy's aid or even just run away tells me that they would have either held your family hostage, or straight-up killed them when police arrived.
You were the wild-card that made sure that it didn't go according to plan for them, despite the cost to your poor brother, and you have the sheer guts needed to carry it through, no matter what you may (or may not) have been thinking at the time.
A day late and a dollar short, but here goes...
Would you be more likely to sacrifice yourself on duty for an innocent bystander, or off duty for family? At what point on the job is it not worth sacrificing yourself for others?
Oof! That's what I get for asking truths that make people dig, I guess. *chuckles*
In all honesty... probably my family, but that's merely on the strength of not even having to consider sacrificing myself for them. With regards to my life not being worth someone else's on the job... you hear all the time from veterans that "It's not worth your life," and so on, but I really don't believe that.
I honestly and truly believe that if I'm going to do this job, I'm going to be dedicated to it. It's not enough to just put in my time on the clock and head home at the end of the day. If I can't give this job every ounce of what I have to give, then what reason do I have to wear a badge. This shield is more than just a symbol: I really do see myself as standing in the defense of ordinary citizens.
Now, maybe I'm still just young and naive enough to carry that, but I hope that I will always have this drive. I live to help others, to serve the community (or nation) that I'm a part of, and ultimately the planet that I was born on. I prefer to think that people can all get along, and I tend to work like that, giving people the benefit of the doubt. It means that occasionally, I get my good will taken advantage of. That's okay. Karma gets those who help themselves to the detriment of others.
..... Whew! That's been on my mind for a while.... I might need to start blogging, so as to get the drama out every now and then. *wry chuckle*[/QUOTE]
You are the goddamn Lieutenant Gordon of Halforums..
