My contention in this case involves the “ethics”. In my 36 years on the job I saw many instances of the ol’ “double standard”!! One case in particular that drew my ire was an engineer that was spotted in a gas station by a staff assistant and noticed that he had items in his vehicle that indicated that he was leaving town. He reported it to His Chief, who in turn filed paper on the Engineer. The Engineer received 3 days off. That was appropriate, EXCEPT – The very staff assistant who “ethically” reported the incident had just completed “scheduling” SICK days for a Captain who was getting ready to retire and wanted to use them up because he was over his maximum!!!! This was done in the very same Battalion office where the Engineer received his time off!!!! One was acceptable and the other was not???? This type of double standard needs to be totally eliminated before there is any discussion of the “rank & file” ethics. Let’s hold the entire Department to a higher standard. Thats what the public believes and that is what they deserve. This is not a “job”, it is a “career”, built on sweat and sacrifice of one individual to help another who cannot help himself. I believe that each and every member, from the Chief Engineer to the youngest Rookie feels this desire to give of him or her self and already holds themselves to that higher standard. If they don’t feel that inner sacrifice, they should find another “job”.