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Quit Hangin’ Around

One time when I was new on the job, with maybe two or three months experience, I was told to go up into the attic of a house to check for extension of a fire. So I went up into the attic and was crawling around in there when I fell through the ceiling. I was hanging from my armpits, with the rest of my body swinging in the air. 

This Battalion Chief walks by, and says, “Who is that?!” in a real grumpy voice. Of course, most Battalion Chiefs back then did have grumpy voices. So I said, “It’s Firefighter Pfister, sir.” And he said, “Pfister, get down out of there and quit hangin’ around!” Anyway, I was just hanging around from the ceiling, and he made me leave!

Angelo Outlaw, © 2025

Quit Hangin’ Around

One time when I was new on the job, with maybe two or three months experience, I was told to go up into the attic of a house to check for extension of a fire. So I went up into the attic and was crawling around in there when I fell through the ceiling. I was hanging from my armpits, with the rest of my body swinging in the air. 

This Battalion Chief walks by, and says, “Who is that?!” in a real grumpy voice. Of course, most Battalion Chiefs back then did have grumpy voices. So I said, “It’s Firefighter Pfister, sir.” And he said, “Pfister, get down out of there and quit hangin’ around!” Anyway, I was just hanging around from the ceiling, and he made me leave!

Angelo Outlaw, © 2025

Quit Hangin’ Around

One time when I was new on the job, with maybe two or three months experience, I was told to go up into the attic of a house to check for extension of a fire. So I went up into the attic and was crawling around in there when I fell through the ceiling. I was hanging from my armpits, with the rest of my body swinging in the air. 

This Battalion Chief walks by, and says, “Who is that?!” in a real grumpy voice. Of course, most Battalion Chiefs back then did have grumpy voices. So I said, “It’s Firefighter Pfister, sir.” And he said, “Pfister, get down out of there and quit hangin’ around!” Anyway, I was just hanging around from the ceiling, and he made me leave!

Angelo Outlaw, © 2025