Firefighter's  resignation

It is a sad day in this country when a firefighter is given the option to be fired or resign from his job because of  "gross negligent use of sick leave"  because the firefighter got up to go to respond to a very bad accident less than a half mile from his home.  

Given the information from the paper and having talked to Mr. Chris Avant, I find the the punishment "does not fit the crime."

Chief Tanner and Chief  Johnson, can you both stand up and look Mr. Avant in the eye and say given the same set of circumstances that you would not have done the same thing at any given time in your carrier?

If you say no you would not have you are and I'll say it:  JUST PLAIN LYING!!!

There is not one dedicated firefighter  out there that would not have gone from his sick bed to respond to a friend in those circumstances.

If Mr. Avant had been out to a bar or Wal-Mart or even just out somewhere then yes, one would feel he was abusing his sick day leave.

He even hesitated to respond, knowing there could be some fall out from doing so.

But the adrenaline kicked in, the assessment of response time was there and a friend was down.

Go and do what I'm trained to do, be damned with the fall out.

Mr. Avant most likely saved those injured from further complications by responding.

Is he a hero?

No he just was doing what he was trained to do.

Should he have gone into work that day?

Given how he said he felt when he called in, no.

We all have had days when we feel like death warmed over in the a.m. and later in the day with rest and proper foods we feel much better. 

Most of us don't have a pager in our homes to alert us to someone else's troubles, but let me tell you, when it does go off and your trained to respond, the heart pumps and you go.

Chief Tanner, unless you have another bone to pick with Mr. Avant, I suggest you stand up and offer him his job back, a “job well done” and a “I would have done the same thing” is in order.

One question to all concerned:

How come with a mandatory training session going on for the county Firefighter's was there no back up plan for coverage at the stations?

Why was the city department not notified for standby coverage?  

How come dispatch was not told to send the city rescue ahead of the county who was tied up in training. 

What we have here is a failure to communicate between departments and just maybe there should be some chiefs who need to be fired or asked to resign for not addressing these issues.

Good luck Mr. Avant.

Dick Newcomb

Georgetown

Sales tax exemption

I recently read of the proposed action by our S. C. Legislature to eliminate the sales tax  exemption on groceries and  medicine.

Further, they would even consider eliminating  the one percent (1%) exemption on purchases made by persons OVER 85 years of age.

Let me say that I think this is going a bit too far.

What will that do to the lifestyle of these poor people?

As an example I have found myself in this privileged class for the past 12 months.

During this time, I found occasion to use this benefit on two occasions; once for a savings of .37 cents and again for .42 cents.

On several other occasions I tried without success.

Cashiers either did not know of such a ruling or had no information as to how to proceed with the transaction.

Rather than hold up a line for 10 minutes or longer I just said, "Forget it."

Please, Mr. Editor, speak out for us. 

I can see where this will have a great impact on the welfare of our state if this ruling is not carried forward, but perhaps we can forego purchasing new desks for the House for just a few more years.

William H. Thomas Jr.

Murrells Inlet