You stay up for 16 hours
He’s been up 48 straight
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You take a warm shower to help you wake up.
The cold rain in the middle of the bay keeps him awake.
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You complain of a "headache", and call in sick.
He’s chilled to the bone, hasn’t eaten all day, has the flu, and then runs down to the boat for another case
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You drink your coffee on your way to the mall.
He pumps on a five years olds chest while the helo is coming
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You make sure you're cell phone is in your pocket.
He makes sure the PEPERB in his PFD is working.
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You talk trash about your "buddies" that aren't with you.
He watches his buddy fall off of the side of the "41 trying to pull a 300 pound man out of the water.
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You walk down the beach, staring at all the pretty girls.
He walks down the side of the '41 looking for the body in the water.
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You complain about how hot it is.
He wears a bullet proof vest, a PFD and a blouse in the middle of July and drags a body out of 10 foot seas.
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You go out to lunch, and complain because the restaurant got your order wrong.
He hasn’t seen a meal since last shift ate breakfast.
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Your maid makes your bed and washes your clothes.
He’s worn the same stinking, wet, grungy clothes for the past 24 hours....no time for a shower.
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You go to the mall and get your hair redone.
He holds the hair of some college girl while she’s puking off of the side of the '41
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You're angry because your class ran 5 minutes over.
His shift ended 2 hours ago and he’s on for another 24 hours at a station on the crew and watch board.
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You call your girlfriend and set a date for tonight.
He calls His girlfriend to tell her he misses her....then leaves abruptly for another SAR case.
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You yell and scream at the car that just past you because they slowed you down.
He’s in the back of the boat going to pull somebody out of the water only to find out that their dead and their daughter is barely alive.
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You roll your eyes as a baby cries.
He cries as he hears his new born son cry in the hospital....but he was taking a drunk teenager in when his son was born.
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You criticize your local Coast Guard and say their never there quick enough anyways.
He does 40 knots and endangers his crews lives and speeds past local fisherman to get to you on time
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You hear the jokes about fallen Coasties and say they should have known better.
He feels the boat taking on water carrying an old lady from the pilot house, tosses her on to the '41s hard deck and sinks into the unknown.
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You see the bright lights when you are fishing.
He sees the bodies floating around the buoy
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You are asked to go to the store by your parents. You don't.
He looks into buying a bullet proof vest because he has been shot at trying to save the shooting victims life.
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You stay at home and watch TV.
He takes his spare time to wash the '41, restock the PFD's and maybe call his mother to tell her not to worry, he'll be home the next night
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You crawl into your soft bed, with down pillows, and get comfortable.
He tries to sleep on his rack but keeps getting woken up by the SAR alarm, ahh, one hour of sleep, it should do till tomorrow night.
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You sit there and judge him, saying that its a waste of money to have them around.
**Garbage truck workers make more than he does, but its not for the money, its for the people who don’t appreciate what he does
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