first hand

"At least you were a real call. A lot of them are just crazy people and we get there and it's nothing." This is what the baby-faced fireman said to me as we bounced along in my very first ambulance ride. Since my condition wasn't life threatening the firemen came, instead of EMTs. "don't they have to pay for it if it's not a real problem?" I asked incredulously. He chuckled,"no, you and I pay for it". I remember my parents having to pay for an ambulance when my dad was found on the side of the road in a diabetic coma. I remember thinking that wasn't fair. But that was in Maryland and i was too young to remember the details.
Later we saw the same sweet fireman when he brought someone else in. He said he preferred my company to the drunk that just swung a bloody fist at him...ew. Im happy to have my taxes pay that kind fireman's salary. He works hard and his jovial manner made a bad experience much easier. And, yes it blows that people waste our tax dollars on false alarms, but Im grateful to live in a place where emergency help was available to me. No one likes taxes, but sometimes you realize that they really are paying off.