Santa’s firetruck visit in Mays Landing, NJ, takes an ugly turn

I suppose this is a good indication of where we are as a society today.

Certainly not everybody, but after reading what one local fire department had to say as they were bringing Santa around to a few communities last night, a lot of people really need to take a step back and look themselves in the mirror.

The Mays Landing Fire Department took to Facebook late Friday night to provide a Santa update.

Like many departments, they and their members take time away from being with their families to bring Santa to their residents. It's a fantastic tradition that most people look forward to this time of year.

From what we can piece together, as Santa was coming around, the fire department received a call for service, which required their members to respond.

In other words, Santa had to stop for a bit because the fire department needed to do what it was supposed to do.

And for some people, that wasn't good enough.

To the residents of Hamilton Pointe and Misty Pines, we apologize for being unable to get to your developments this evening. Please understand that there is no set order for when we announce our dates and where we go; the route and logistics of the visit very much determine it. We do this out of the kindness of our hearts and for free while away from our own families. In the future, we ask that the public not chase our members or apparatus down and begin to criticize, harass, and disrespect them. That continued behavior will stop this tradition in an instant.

Really?

"We ask that the public not chase our members or apparatus down and begin to criticize, harass, and disrespect them."

How far do you have to have your head up your own ass to chase fire trucks and firefighters and harass and disrespect them because they had to serve their community?

How awful and disgusting is that?

It's shameful and pathetic.

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After that call for service was dealt with, the department said they didn't want to bring Santa around on loud firetrucks because it was late and they were trying to respect those in those neighborhoods.

For those low-IQ people who chased those firefighters Friday night, what exactly were they supposed to do?

Should they have ignored that call for service because your pampered little child is more important? How would that have played out in the community — an accident, or medical emergency, or a fire was completely ignored because they had to make a handful of residents happy by parading Santa around instead? That's more important?

Or, how would those heads-up-their-asses people have responded if a bunch of firetrucks came around late last night just to make everyone happy? The keyboard warriors on Facebook would have bashed the department left and right — "My kid couldn't sleep last night, how dare they come around and wake everyone up!"

Amazing, the Mays Landing Fire Department is returning to those neighborhoods Saturday morning so kids can see Santa.

That shows you the caliber of people in that department — the people who will run into a burning building or wake up at 3 AM to respond to a car accident.

Those in Mays Landing who embarrassed themselves Friday night really need to think about their actions.

Moving forward, we would like to remind our residents and visitors that calls for service are our #1 priority, and even during Santa’s visit, us leaving to provide help can happen. Suppose you’re interested in joining to give us more staffing so we can continue delivering while maintaining our mission. In that case, you can always retrieve an application from our department any Tuesday at 7 pm!