My Sister Asked Me to Write This

You have probably seen this in the news by now. In rural Obion County Tennessee, the fire department refused to assist a family whose home was burning to the ground because they forgot to pay the $75 annual service fee.

Being outside the city limits, the Cranicks were required to pay a fee of $75 each year to subscribe to fire-fighting services. They forgot. They had a fire. The fire department refused to come help. They lost everything.

This is absurd.

Absurdity No. 1 - No one disputes that he should have paid the fee, not even Cranick. But he offered to pay "whatever it took," to get help. They still refused. Commentator Smirconish suggested that the fire department should have responded and then put a lien on the home for the costs of the fire-fighting services. What a good and rational idea. Instead, they wanted to teach the Cranicks a lesson I guess. Well, lesson learned: In Obion County, Tennessee, principles and fees are more important that people or their homes. What a great lesson.

Absurdity No. 2 - This is what happens when you start privatizing everything. Do you know why we have speed limits? For everyone's safety because some people would drive at top speed everywhere, safety be damned. Know why we have taxes imposed and services provided, so this crap doesn't happen. How much easier - and more rational - would it have been to just assess everyone the $75 every year and then provide fire services to them all? Simple!! So why wasn't it done this way? Because of people's stupid, irrational obsessions with preferring privatizing everything. I call BS on that. It's stupid. As evidenced by the photo above.

Absurdity No. 3 - The Cranicks knew that in past years, people were given fire fighting assistance and allowed to pay the annual service fee the next day. You can see how "forgetting" to pay would be easier when you can simply pay after you need the service. I wonder if the residents of Obion County were given notice that NO fire service would be provided - and no opportunity to pay the fee after the due date - if the fee was not timely paid. Shouldn't people know the consequences of their acts and omissions prior to taking a step forward? They already had an expectation that they could get help if they needed. Were they informed of the change? It seems not. (For more details about what the Cranicks experienced, google the video interviews of Mr. Cranick with Keith Olbermann.

Absurdity No. 4 - This is what happens when people put "being right" ahead of "doing the right thing." Of course, they didn't pay the fee, so the fire department was "right" that they had no obligation to help the Cranicks. But does anyone dispute that ignoring their neighbor's cry for help was NOT the "right thing to do?" As adults, we (hopefully) learn the difference and try to put aside our egos and do the right thing. I wish, for the sake of the Cranicks, that the Obion County fire department had been able to act like adults.

The Cranicks lost everything: 3 dogs, a cat, all of their clothes and belongings. Everything. Is that the proper consequence for forgetting to pay a $75 fee?

Oh, and if the loss of everything was not enough, Mr. Cranick gets mocked on Glenn Beck's radio show here.

Good Mormon Glenn Beck mocks compassion (while his co-host mocks all southerners) and argues that it's all about the $75. He must think we're stupid. There are more alternatives than voluntarily paying to get protection OR not paying and getting no protection. (1) Assess the fee to everyone and everyone gets fire service. (2) Save the house and place a lien on the house for the cost, or the fee. (3) Save the house and then sue the guy for the money. I could go on, but you get it. With all of these reasonable scenarios, the house gets saved and Cranick is held responsible. It is not either/or!

Moreover, Beck makes some weird parallel to "Obama Care" claiming that "Obama Care" is like putting out the fire without requiring the fee. Well, now he's not just being stupid, he's outright lying. The Health Care Reform law requires everyone (or almost everyone) to purchase health insurance. That's the fee. Indeed, the mandate forces personal responsibility where none was required before.

If the service fee in Obion County had been mandated, I would not be writing this particular blog and Mr. Cranick would likely still have a home, 3 dogs, and a cat.

So you tell me: What world do you want to live in? The one where everything is privatized and people risk losing everything with a small omission? Or the one where there are safety nets for people (which are paid for by assessments and taxes)? And be honest. If you have ever relied on the police, fire department, FEMA, or the VA, or if you have ever benefited from Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Disability or WIC, you know that government safety nets can literally save lives. And it can be done in a way to requires personal responsibility.