Bow Tie o’ the Day pays tribute to the police officers and firefighters of 9/11. They did monumental and incredible work. They did their jobs, and beyond.
As a parent, aunt, and teacher, I have been asked many times why a police officer or firefighter gets all kinds of attention when they die. Kids see them in the newspaper and on the tv news, becoming famous (to a kid). And to a kid, it’s like the fallen get a parade on the way to their burial. One young sprite asked me, “Why are cops and firefighters more special than anybody else who dies?”
My answer is always simple. Police officers and firefighters are not better or more important than anybody else. They are not perfect. Some of them are jerks– as in any profession. But they all belong to us because they serve our communities. We ask them daily to do dirty, dangerous work in our cities, counties, states, and country. When something catastrophic happens, we all take our frightened butts and scram as far away as we can and as swiftly as we can. While our scaredy-cat selves are leaving the scene of the crime, the goal of first responders is to run right into whatever deadly chaos we want to escape. Their aim is to do whatever needs to be done to keep us secure and alive. They aren’t superheroes, but they are probably the closest thing we have to superheroes.
Even kids understand that answer.