The Delusions Fire Peeps Keep

So, I have been talking to some friends lately and am very disappointed in fire people's attitudes on the whole lately.

First of all, the people who are getting involved are getting younger and younger, which is cool. That I don't have a problem with. But I do have a problem when the kids tell the parents, "Oh this is safe. I can even do it at school for the talent show." Yeah...ummm..right.

Then there are those who have been doing this awhile, friends whom I love dearly, who think that because they spin in their backyard that they don't need safety. This pisses me off to no end. They would rather suffer burns, or burn down a property, rather than spending $20 on a fire extinguisher and a wool army blanket. It's positively insulting.

And my least favorite comes from the idiots who burned 5 people in a bar recently because they saw a fire breather and thought they could figure it out, because "It's so easy."

A. With all the talk of insurance lately I need to say, if you are safe and careful, you won't need to use the liability insurance (the kind that covers everyone else) you should have if performing. Make sure your health insurance is in order. Insurance will not save your arses if something does burn down, it will only HELP cover it if it does.
Use a fire blanket and extinguisher every time you spin with fire! Try to have someone nearby, who knows how to use them, to make sure everything is safe.

B. Just because someone else can do it, doesn't mean it is easy or that you should. Take the time to research and figure things out. If it is worth doing, then it is worth the time.

C. And this one is the most important in my book:

NOTHING WE DO IS FOOLPROOF!!!! We play with fuels and fire, fire is not safe and combined with fuel it is just damn stupid! There are ways to make it safER, certainly. Do not delude yourself into thinking that spinning is accident-proof. Do not relax yourself into the "It'll never happen to me" mentality because the minute you do this, you lose your edge on what is safe and what is not.
We are not clever because we figured out how to do this stuff. We are not the coolest people on the planet because we can do something that makes other people go "OOOOOHHHHH". We risk our health, the well being of those around us and the property we are on everytime we light up. We are stupid. But we don't have to prove it by being unsafe and thoughtless.

*Previous message is the viewpoint of Pele only, and does not reflect the views of Malcolm, Charles, Flash Fire or Home of Poi. Previous message is intended only in regards to FIRE use and not any other form of twirling (though maybe beeming balls could come under this warning! ).*

[ 27 October 2002, 18:53: Message edited by: Pele ]

Pele
Higher, higher burning fire...making music like a choir
"Oooh look! A pub!" -exclaimed after recovering from a stupid fall
"And for the decadence of art, nothing beats a roaring fire." -TMK

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