A pizza delivery man risked his life to save five children from a burning house. He saw the house on fire while driving past and stopped. After entering through a back door and walking four of them out, he learned that another child was still inside so he went back in, broke a second floor window, and climbed out with the child, hurting his arm and getting burns.
Mano Singham
Just another Freethought Blogs site
“A pizza delivery man risked his life to save five children from a burning house.”
This is a loaded sentence. Yes, it is to be celebrated that a stranger saved five children. But, why isn’t the sentence, “Passerby saved five children”? Why does it need to be remarked that it was a “pizza delivery man”?
It seems to imply that pizza delivery people aren’t normally expected to be capable of the empathy and courage to try to save strangers from life-threatening situations.
@1, Why not “People saved children from fire” ? Which applies no matter who the rescuers were — pizza delivery or other passer(s)by, fire service or other responders, or even the children themselves — and also applies no matter how matter how children were saved (pedantically, potentially including one or perhaps even none) ?
moarscienceplz @#1 and blf @#2,
I think you are reading too much into such details.
Such details as the person being a pizza delivery man are meant to add color to a story, not to imply that such people are normally incapable of such acts. This is routinely done in such stories.
The number of children saved and the fact that they were children are pieces of factual information that would make no sense to suppress.
It’s very common for a person’s occupation to be listed in a news item about them. In this case, it also explains why the person was in the neighborhood, and highlights the fact that the timing was excellent. It also draws attention to the fact the the person was not necessarily trained in rescue (“firefighter saves children” doesn’t have the same ring).
What would be satisfying (joking!) were if the driver was dismissed for being wilfully tardy on his delivery.
I noticed the word ‘man’, as well. Glad his ‘toxic masculinity’ helped inspire him to this selfless, life-saving action!
John Morales remember that delivery driver who got reprimanded recently for not finishing his route after he’d been chased by racists and shot at 5 times. Even with the bullet holes still in the truck . Gotta love soulless corporations /s
Love the story. I hope it is as presented. A grand wholesome object lesson in empathy and heroic action that has overcome race and class to the benefit of all humanity. A shining example of what is good about humanity and an unsullied inspiration of what a more perfect world might look like.
That said, there are a lot of questions:
The nature of the fire:
From what I see on the video I’m thinking the fire is being fed early on by a highly flammable substance. Gasoline comes to mind but many others might behave similarly. Foam-rubber can behave similarly.
The timing is spot-on. it spreads rapidly and in minutes engulfs the house. Had the delivery driver been just a few moments later there would have been nothing he could do without dying in the process. Had he been a few minutes earlier the fire might not have attracted his attention.
Does this man have any history of seeking to be a hero? Does he have any history of racist activity or views?
Is this black family new to the neighborhood? Have their been threats?
I could picture a scenario of a black family moving into a previously mostly white area. A young man, possibly jazzed up on white supremacist rhetoric, decides to heroically strike blow. He fire-bombs the front porch. But then he has second thoughts. Regretting his actions he heroically and selflessly works to save the children.
I have no proof and I’m really all over the place deciding how one might deal with that possibility, assuming any of that was true. A redemption story is, in some ways, even better than simple selfless heroism. Lots of juicy themes of love conquering hate and enemies made friends.
A young man being prone to violent rhetoric and rash action is entirely believable. Regretting and having your priorities restructures to a diametrically opposed valence immediately after doing something rash is entirely believable. Been there.
A a young man who desires to gain distinction by being a hero is common as dirt.
I hope it is more the first version than the later. Time will tell.