Rescue Me

For a long while, Roc and I were totally into the FX Show Rescue Me starring Dennis Leary. I remember a time that everyone in the City was watching it; it was a dark comedy/drama that was total "must-see" TV. When I was talking about Firefighters yesterday, I remembered a scene from an old episode that struck me even then. Even if the show wasn't exactly your speed, the dialogue was fantastic, and every sentence ended with a punch. I pulled this from IMDB:
--------------------------------------------------

"Rescue Me: Immortal (#1.10)" (2004)
Tommy Gavin: [Tommy is pulled over for speeding through a downtown intersection] Hey, how you doing. Hey, Collins man!
(Collins is a cop that Tommy knows through his brother, who is NYPD)
Collins: You better have a good excuse, Gavin
Tommy Gavin: Oh, you know what man, I got a phone call...
Collins: That was some dare-devil shit back there!
Tommy Gavin: know, I know. I got a phone call about twenty minutes ago. My mom had a heart attack and I got to get to a hospital.
Collins: Bullshit!
Tommy Gavin: No bro, I'm serious!
Collins: Give me your license and reg... All right, the honeymoon's over Gavin, all right? So tell all your friends and all that hero worship you got after 9/11 ain't getting paid any due anymore. We lost guys downtown too, but nobody even talks about us. 343 firemen. There was almost 100 cops!
Tommy Gavin: That's true. Nobody's forgetting about the cops.
Collins: Guess what? You so much as look at a cop the wrong way and you're paying the price. All right, asshole?
Tommy Gavin: You know this is going to come back to bite you in the ass. We got a big hockey game coming up again. A rematch - in what, like a week?
Collins: Yeah I'm real concerned about payback. Yeah, I hope your ma don't die while I'm writing you up, either. Have a nice day.
Tommy Gavin: [whispers] Shithead.
--------------------------------------------------
The truth is, there was a real bone of contention there in the aftermath. I know cops who felt that the Firefighters got all the accolades; there were cops who didn't care, and a few drunken brawls as to whose job was more important.

I could easily access the hole in my heart every time I heard a siren; for me, it didn't matter where the sound was coming from. Even now, when I am traipsing across Broadway and hear a big commotion, I shudder. It's instinctive. As a New Yorker, it's very palpable...at times, I still tip my hat to the fire trucks as they breeze by...I smile at any cops I see...and I am grateful for the First Responders, one and all.