A Couple of Joes

JOE HODGES IS A DOWN-TO-EARTH, fun-loving guy. He’s the very definition of “an average Joe.” He’s your neighbor—the guy down the block you might not even know that well, but you would call to help you move a really heavy piece of furniture, or some chore like that, just because you know he would.

I guess that kind of roll-up-your-sleeves-and-pitchin attitude just goes with the turf of being a 27-year veteran New York City firefighter.

I met Joe after 9/11 and immediately liked him. It’s just plain obvious that he’s good-hearted and decent. Also, how can you not like a guy who goes fishing in the firehouse? Joe’s style of firehouse fishing was to grab some filament line, tie it to an old wallet, and rubber-band a couple dollar bills to it. Then he would crack the firehouse door slightly, slide the wallet out on to the sidewalk, and watch the fun from the small windows in the huge truck bay door. Most folks in the neighborhood knew the guys in the house, and caught on pretty quickly to the practical joke of this wallet getting pulled just out of their reach as they stumbled after it. It would drive kids crazy, for sure. Joe was once stationed in a firehouse next to a methadone clinic. “That was really fun,” he chuckled, shaking his head.