To be a Public servant

Oct 12, 2002

Nick and I connected tonight, and I learned that he’ll be traveling back to DeKalb soon to take the physical examination for the firefighter application process; he was there last month to take the written exam, and he’s one of 50 to have passed that. His chances of getting the job there are good, he feels, but the thrill of being a forest fire hotshot is pulling him, too. Nick says he’ll most likely be offered a job as a forest fighter next summer, which means he’ll be chasing fires across the country. For now, he’s hunkered down in Arizona, where he lives within 500 yards of the ASU Sun Devils stadium – the very place the University of North Carolina football team beat ASU last week.

Today, though, the UNC team didn’t fare so well in its rivalry with NC State. We dressed Anna in her cheerleader’s dress (a gift from her babysitter, Amy Diachenko) and went to Kenan Stadium, but we lasted only an hour in the sun.

Nick mentioned that our brother Matt had spent the night with the police last night. I called Matt and learned the details: he did a ride-along with the DeKalb police, first with a cruiser and later in an unmarked car. He’s been thinking of law enforcement as a career when he finishes at NIU. He plans to take the next civil service test for the police department, and would like to be an officer in someplace warm.

Anton Zuiker ☄