This is crazy. I know it, but I'm still going to do it. When I realized that I needed to move up my job search I typed Oconomowoc jobs into my search engine and found myself on the official city website. There was a posting for an EMT, but when I went to the full length description I saw it was from 2012. I decided to call anyways. The guy I was supposed to speak with wasn't there so I left a message and called my sister. When I ran this idea past my therapist she said that I should go for it, adding that she thought this would be a great job for me, and if I couldn't get training there I could always go back to school for it. I was on the phone with my middle sister when a number I didn't recognize popped up on my screen. I answered it since it was local and felt like an idiot when I realized it was the fire chief on the other line. I assumed he would tell me to drop off an application, but he started talking and pretty soon I was telling him things I hadn't intended.
After twenty minutes he learned that I was forty, not in the greatest shape, and only five feet tall. He told me none of those things were barriers and just from talking to me he would be interested in meeting me. Then he explained that they batch applications and wait until there is a pool to choose from. Out of the last eleven candidates three were selected. If I'm hired I have my choice of taking an accelerated class or the more traditional two day per week one. I have half of a nursing degree which will help. One thing I'm not sure about is the fire aspect of it since the idea of entering a burning building and having to get people out of it is pretty intimidating. I have a pretty vivid imagination so I can picture thick smoke and terrified people trapped in a structure that could collapse on us and them. Like I said, I know that this is crazy. One thing that is giving me hope is my ADD and Romance book, no, I'm not kidding about that.
The book says that there are three types of ADHD which is the proper term for ADD. There is the hyperactive type, the more quiet daydreaming type, and the mixed type where people experience both sides of this lovely disorder. Underneath the first type, which I probably am, it says these people often excel at jobs that are chaotic and stressful. Some work in the OR, the emergency department, and some are fire fighters. Others are comedians, a lot of them are self employed. The need for constant stimulation works in their favor when disorder is the norm as people with ADHD tend to be in the moment anyways. I have no idea if this is going to go anywhere, but I'm really proud of myself for picking up the phone and filling out the job application which involved multiple repeats as I kept making mistakes and I wanted to turn in the cleanest copy I could. There is a minor mistake on the third page, but I had to let it go. They have to expect humanity from a human after all.
The girls and I were going to bike down there, but now I think I might drive. I don't know what to do. I'm wearing an outfit that hopefully makes me look capable, competent, and athletic enough to handle the rigors of the job. A friend of mine that I consider pretty badass said she doesn't have the balls for the job. I don't know if I do either, but strangely, I'm not really scared. Maybe I should be. I can't control my emotions that way. I might cry, but I'm not afraid even though the job would involve heights, extreme temperatures, hazardous chemicals, violent and disorderly people, and terrible car accidents. For how flighty I can be, I'm great in a crisis. I don't lose my cool although I sometimes have a mini breakdown after when I can relax and relive the moment. As someone who has life threatening food allergies who has ridden in an ambulance I appreciate the role of these people in society.
I just got the call that the person I'm supposed to meet is on the way. Here goes nothing...