FDTTF: The Fire Department Table Tennis Federation

Being a firefighter, you quickly learn there is the potential for a LOT of down time. With that, you find ways to occupy the time....or you become ever so bored and give the appearance that you are nothing more than a lazy sloth.

Some of our time is filled with running calls (obviously), house duties, training, PT, eating and sleeping...while that list is not all inclusive, it does leave plenty of "free time."

Practical Joke / Prank: a stunt or trick to purposely make someone feel foolish or victimized, usually for humor.

Pranks are somewhat of a past-time in the Fire Department. While most things are "fair game," there are two cardinal laws.

1. NEVER MESS WITH SOMEONE'S GEAR. This could obviously have dyer consequences if the person that is subject to the prank does not discover the prank and goes out on a call and has a gear failure.

2. NEVER MESS WITH SOMEONE'S FOOD. I do not really need to explain this.

Last night, the Medic Unit had a call just before bed time. Everyone was already changed over into sleep attire, so they had to put on jumpsuits and head out. The Lieutenant simply slipped off his sandals that he always wears to bed and put on his jumpsuit and boots...and they were off. While they were away, one of the technicians decided to play a prank. When the Lieutenant arrived back at the station nearly 60 minutes later, he couldn't find his sandals. After looking around and failing to produce the sandals, he simply wrote them off and went to bed. In the morning, I overheard him in the locker room talking with another one of the medics. "Kevin, have you seen my sandals? I haven't seen them since we left for that call last night!" Kevin new exactly where the sandals were. In fact, EVERYONE did....except for the Lieutenant. Kevin told him to "look in the bay near the medic unit."

We quickly ran out to the bay, making sure we did not follow too closely. After watching the Lt fail to find his sandals, he spotted us. Kevin simply pointed up.....





We now have another new way to occupy time at the station. Another one of the Lieutenants on our shift has donated a Ping Pong Table. Apparently he ordered a very expensive table and it arrived with a dent in the side rail. While this does not affect gameplay, it was unacceptable for a purchase. After speaking with the company, he convinced them to send out another full table (which he would pay for shipping), and he would donate the "damaged" table to a local Fire Station. With the arrival of the table, the FDTTF has been formed. Last night, we held our first tournament. While I was knocked out in the first round, I was not as bad as I thought I would have been.



You must always make an entrance........(not me, this is the prankster)







And to keep you wired throughout the long tournaments, we now have a station "vending machine." This was donated and filled by the Captain. You simply take what you want, and put the correct amount for each item into the collection bin. We work on honesty and trust.....so people not paying is not even a consideration.



*We actually did run some calls and do some training today...in fact, quite a bit!! But sometimes the ordinary is just that....while the other things are the highlight of the day.