A life lesson from a volunteer firefighter
00:00
Back in New York, I am the head of development for a non-profit called Robin Hood. When I'm not fighting poverty, I'm fighting fires as the assistant captain of a volunteer fire company. Now in our town, where the volunteers supplement a highly skilled career staff, you have to get to the fire scene pretty early to get in on any action.
00:19
I remember my first fire. I was the second volunteer on the scene, so there was a pretty good chance I was going to get in. But still it was a real footrace against the other volunteers to get to the captain in charge to find out what our assignments would be. When I found the captain, he was having a very engaging conversation with the homeowner, who was surely having one of the worst days of her life. Here it was, the middle of the night, she was standing outside in the pouring rain, under an umbrella, in her pajamas, barefoot, while her house was in flames.
00:53
The other volunteer who had arrived just before me -- let's call him Lex Luther -- (Laughter) got to the captain first and was asked to go inside and save the homeowner's dog. The dog! I was stunned with jealousy. Here was some lawyer or money manager who, for the rest of his life, gets to tell people that he went into a burning building to save a living creature, just because he beat me by five seconds. Well, I was next. The captain waved me over. He said, "Bezos, I need you to go into the house. I need you to go upstairs, past the fire, and I need you to get this woman a pair of shoes." (Laughter) I swear. So, not exactly what I was hoping for, but off I went -- up the stairs, down the hall, past the 'real' firefighters, who were pretty much done putting out the fire at this point, into the master bedroom to get a pair of shoes.
01:54
Now I know what you're thinking, but I'm no hero. (Laughter) I carried my payload back downstairs where I met my nemesis and the precious dog by the front door. We took our treasures outside to the homeowner, where, not surprisingly, his received much more attention than did mine. A few weeks later, the department received a letter from the homeowner thanking us for the valiant effort displayed in saving her home. The act of kindness she noted above all others: someone had even gotten her a pair of shoes.
02:33
(Laughter)
02:35
In both my vocation at Robin Hood and my avocation as a volunteer firefighter, I am witness to acts of generosity and kindness on a monumental scale, but I'm also witness to acts of grace and courage on an individual basis. And you know what I've learned? They all matter. So as I look around this room at people who either have achieved, or are on their way to achieving, remarkable levels of success, I would offer this reminder: don't wait. Don't wait until you make your first million to make a difference in somebody's life. If you have something to give, give it now. Serve food at a soup kitchen. Clean up a neighborhood park. Be a mentor.
03:17
Not every day is going to offer us a chance to save somebody's life, but every day offers us an opportunity to affect one. So get in the game. Save the shoes.
03:27
Thank you.
Comments
The Bezos´s story is funny. Going inside and saving the homeowner´s dog is good, but going into the house, go up the upstairs, down the hall, past the fire and into the master bedroom to save a pair of shoes is a nonsense. Perhaps, the dog didn´t need to save him because he smells the fire and instead of people save the dog is the dog which saves people a lot of times. The story could be fiction for this reason.
It´s a ridicule for this woman not only for asking to firefighter to bring the pair of shoes but also for sending a letter thanking the valiant effort to delivery her pair of shoes. She could be a bit insane.
Anyway, the most important thing of this story is that Mr. Bezos is a volunteer firefighter, which means he acts as he thinks. A lot people speak about noble arguments and, after, they do nothing. Be a mentor, but I would be content with most people respected each other. “Every day offers us an opportunity to affect one.”
See you.
It seems that you coped with this talk better than the previous one.
Bezos´s / Bezo's story is funny. Going inside and saving the homeowner´s dog is good, but going into the house, up the stairs, down the hall, past the fire and into the master bedroom to save a pair of shoes is nonsense. Perhaps, the dog didn´t need to be saved because he would have smelled the fire and instead of someone saving the dog, it is the dog which usually saves people. The story could be fiction for this reason.
It was ridiculous for this woman not only for asking the firefighter to bring the pair of shoes but also for sending a letter thanking the valiant effort to retrieve her pair of shoes. She could be a bit insane.
Anyway, the most important thing about this story is that Mr. Bezos is a volunteer firefighter, which means he acts as he thinks. A lot of people speak about noble arguments but then they do nothing. Be a mentor, but I would be content with most people respecting each other. “Every day offers us an opportunity to affect one.”