IT'S PRETTY SOFT. It's pretty soft for you firemen, Just warming your chairs all day, Playing pinochle or checkers, Or worrying about your pay. Such are the familiar greetings Extended to all fire stations, By a few narrow-minded citizens, Who, two to one, try dodging taxations. Regardless of low insurance rates, Firemen get no credit for their graces, They have to take such slurring remarks, With a smile upon their faces. Oft times have I wondered, After hearing such slurring salutes, Just how soft it would be, If they were in a fireman's boots. I wonder if it would be pretty soft, If they were to answer the fire gong, When the thermometer reads 20 below, And the sky would be lit up strong. And it would be their home and family, Where the fire was holding sway; Would they think of pinochle or checkers, Or worry about their pay? Would it be soft to enter the burning building, To be exhausted from smoke or gas, Or be carried out crippled for life, From falling bricks and glass? Would it be soft climbing slippery ladders, Or wrestle around with frozen hose, For the sake of life and property, And have the public thumb their nose? "Pretty soft" is the proper word- As the critic lies snugly in bed, While firemen are searching the ruins For the crippled and the dead. Which proves that they give their all To protect lives and property, Even though the narrow minded think Themselves a fireman's superiority. You cannot expect much from this source, It's their nature to censor without cause. They think themselves quite witty But they never, receive any applause. As the witty part of the whole situation Without doubt to them would be lost: For, if they should have their heads examined Yes. You're right. It would be "Pretty soft". Author Unknown