The spies among us. YouTube video takes what may be a positive PR moment & presents it as something very different.

The headline reads "City of Miami Fire Department having fun with Hooter girls".  And here's the description with it:

"Our city of miami fire department wasting their time with Hooter girls while the buildings fire alarm was going Off!".

Is that really what is going on here? I am far from convinced that's exactly the case, based on what I saw in the clip. Watch it and tell me what you think?

Whatever the facts are of this situation, the bigger lesson for everyone is in this person's perception of the event. It is a concept to think about as you go about your everyday business on the job and on your rigs. With cameras popping up everywhere, even innocent actions where you are actually doing some good, can be misunderstood or distorted and used for someone else's agenda.

What I see in this video (and this is just MY perception) is the pump operator using some moments while the rest of the crew is handling a building's fire alarm is some positive public relations for the fire department. I am not being sarcastic. I mean this sincerely. Like the woman taking the video, I have no knowledge of the facts and I'm making a few assumptions to reach my conclusions (just like a reporter, huh?).

Fire chiefs, other officers and union officials are often reminding firefighters to present a good image to the citizens and teach them about the fire service. They want the troops to be good ambassadors.

So, when there is down time at an incident scene, if it doesn't interfere with operations and it is safe to do so, is there something bad about letting the people you serve get a quick tour of the fire trucks their tax dollars pay for? Few of us would say that's a terrible idea.

But if the citizens happen to be three young women who work for the restaurant chain Hooters, are the firefighters obligated to tell the women that because of where they work it's not allowed?

From what we can see, this isn't like the Los Angeles incident where there is video of a naked porn star climbing onto a rig. These are just three young women who got to sit in a fire engine, take pictures and then pose with someone's helmet. They probably left with a good impression of firefighters and the fire department.

Still, some in the public will only see that three Hooters girls came pouring out of a fire engine laughing and having a good time while the firefighters were supposed to be working. That's how the woman taking this video views it.

This may be one of those damned if you do and damned if you don't moments. From what I can see, the only thing that might have been a bit smarter to do in this situation was keep the door open so people could see clearly what was going on inside. A little transparency, if you will. Other than that minor point, it appears to me something that a chief can justify and defend, especially if firefighters are extending that same courtesy to other citizens.

Even having the door open probably wouldn't have changed this woman's view of it all from a few stories up. If she had bothered to heed the warning of the fire alarm and left the building (like the Hooters staff apparently did) she might have learned that the other firefighters were doing their job and the one left behind  was also serving the citizenry, just in a different way. She too might have then been able to climb up into the fire engine and then use that camera for something a little more productive and positive.