As an EMT, I often get stereotyped by people who think that as healthcare providers, we should be the epitome of health and peak physical condition. Truthfully, most of us are overweight, out of shape, and have to have help finding our boots when the buzzer goes off at 2 AM. My partner and I were standing by at a P.R. event, and as it was crowded inside the main building, I stepped outside for a smoke. I pulled out my leather tobacco pouch and my trusty Mr. Brog, stuffed it with some CBW and fired her up. I wasn't even done tamping down the charring light when this old bat and her pitiful, miserable looking husband walked up. She proceeded to shout "bad EMT" at me and scold me about how bad smoking was for me, how her dad died from cigarettes, blah blah blah. Well, as I was in company uniform, I couldn't tell her to f#$k off like I wanted to, but it almost made me laugh how some people actually think doctors and EMS personnel don't smoke, drink, overeat, you know, all the same things real people with lives do.
