This is going to be one of those posts that's not *exactly* delightful, but was incredibly meaningful, and I delighted in being so moved. Station 19 is a spin-off show of Grey's Anatomy (one of my favorite TV shows that I have been following live since season 2 aired in 2006. (side note: that's a crazy long time. This show has followed through my entire lifetime in Massachusetts, 15 years, 10 apartments/houses in 9 cities (Boston, Groton, Pepperell, Cambridge, Brookline, Waltham, Ipswich, Gloucester, plus of course a summer in Chicago), two major relationships, dozens of jobs (including bakery worker, nanny, census taker, minister at 3 churches, after school program director, chaplain intern, phoneathon fundraiser, gardener, beer captain, tour guide, packaging assistant, events manager, entrepreneur, CBD retail worker, cannabis store manager, music teacher), and 7 pet cats (Charlie, Fidel, Fuggles, Barley, Bernie, Fela, Sanders). Not many constants through all of those changes, but Grey's has always been there).
Anyways, Station 19 is about firefighters who work in Seattle, where's Grey's hospital is located, so there are many opportunities for crossovers. This season, both Grey's and Station 19 have aired some very meaningful episodes about COVID 19, but recently Station 19 has had a story arc about police violence, which started when 2 Black firefighters were arrested for trying to help an abducted girl (the white firefighters on the scene were not arrested, so it screamed of racism.) The most recent episode continued to discuss the ramifications of that arrest and the legal action that the Black firefighters are pursuing against the white police officers, interspersed with the typical saves of the firefighters, including helping a woman giving birth and saving her husband who had a heart attack. Near the very end of the episode, cell phones started dinging with alerts about something happening in the news. Someone turns on the TV and the breaking news is all about the (real life) murder of George Floyd by police in Minnesota. The last quotes of the episode gave me chills and almost brought me to tears.
"8 minutes 46 seconds." - Dean (referencing the amount of time the police officer had his knee on Floyd's neck)
"We held compressions on Wayne for 7:32." - Andy (Wayne is the husband/new father they saved earlier)
"They took more time ending that man's life than we did saving one." - Dean
Rewatching it just now to get the quotes right gave me even more chills. The scene was beautifully tragic and I thought it was tastefully and respectfully done, in order to confront the real problems of racism and police brutality. Dean's line really got to me, because I've always considered firefighters and police officers to be on the same side, the same team, trying to help people. But so often, that is not the case, and police are doing way more harm than good. It was a sad reminder of what is happening in our world, but it also gave me a glimmer of hope that maybe something can change. I know it's just one episode of one fictional TV show, but it moved me, and maybe it will move others, and maybe being moved will encourage people to stand up and fight for what's right. Again, definitely not delightful subject matter, but I really was delighted that Station 19 addressed this issue and did it so well, and I delight in the hope that maybe things can eventually change.
With delight,
♥Jamie
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