A little late, but it's never too late to say, thank you, Fred Grimm, for telling the truth. We do love our firefighters and yes, this City and County demonstrate a lack of common sense and exude a jungle like mentality when it comes to spending money in a way that puts a buck in the pocket of its politicians by way of kickbacks, or special favors. However, we are hardly New York City with its many, many old and tall buildings. Our tall buildings are brand new, and I haven't heard of one fire in one of them yet. So, knowing that a City of Miami firefighter, 17 years in, in 2007, was able to buy 3 years of service in February of 2008, for $34,000 is definitely proof of what having a real union can do for a profession and not a measure of what the profession really deserves to earn from taxpayers.