[tom h]

"Sad, but hardly a suprising outcome."

I agree. Out of several thousand firemen, a dozen leave their wives? Maybe 1-3%. If you asked any 100 men to console and support extensively a grieving widow, whatever the connection, I would wager than up to 5% of the men would always jump ship. It's inevitable. The women are lonely, some of the men have wives that "don't understand" them, and some of the widows will be extremely attractive or rolling in life insurance money.

This is interesting but hardly a sign of the decline of Western Civilization.

[HamiltonJay]

Well its predictable.. you have someone, a grieving woman and her kids, who likely are also the children and wife of a good friend of your own, at the most vulnerable, and you have the inate male instinct to protect... it is inevitable that some of these situations would result in what has happened.

I think the policy is pretty bad policy frankly, sending laymen out to do grief counselling and support... as an unofficial duty. It is sad, and it is wrong, but its not suprising.

[milemark]

"...interesting but hardly a sign of the decline of Western Civilization."

Not that any more signs are needed of said decline.