Aussie mum ignites roaring debate about etiquette after witnessing firefighters being forced to leave a cafe

An Aussie mum has sparked a debate online about whether firefighters and other emergency service workers should be able to skip the queue for coffee.

Jacqueline Fauvel, from Melbourne, said she had been waiting in line for coffee with her baby for 15 minutes when she witnessed a group of on-duty firefighters queue for a short while before leaving. 

‘That makes me so sad because I assume they have a short time for a break and they have to be off and be available at all times just in case there’s a fire,’ Ms Fauvel said on TikTok. 

‘I’ve also seen paramedics wait in line and turn around because it’s taken too long. 

‘I feel like people should just automatically let them in front. They just work so hard and all they want is a bloody coffee.’

Ms Fauvel’s video, which has since been viewed almost 76,000 times, sparked a huge debate, with many speaking up in support of her position.

‘As a Paramedic in Aus, I thank you!’ wrote one.

‘Sometimes it’s our only opportunity to get a coffee and we’re always so nervous that the next job is only seconds away. We don’t want discount just priority.’

One firefighter said her comments ‘mean a lot’.       

‘We don’t get ‘breaks’, that pager goes off we are gone so your generosity of giving up your spot is highly appreciated,’ they said.

However, not everyone agreed. 

Some poured cold water on the idea that firefighters were busy, claiming they have a ‘cushy’ job. 

‘Nope, firies do barely anything and have loads of free time. They are NOT busy,’ wrote one.

Another claimed their brother had been a firefighter for almost 40 years and would boast about the ‘cushy deal their working conditions are’.

Ms Fauvel’s video, which has since been viewed almost 76,000 times, sparked a huge debate, with many speaking up in support of her position. however, others poured cold water on the idea that firefighters were busy 

But senior firefighter Dan Spooner, from Darlinghurst Fire Station in Sydney, defended his colleagues from the critics.

‘We do not get any breaks,’ he told Yahoo News Australia. 

‘When you’re on duty, you’re on duty. If you go to the coffee shop you could be waiting in line and an emergency call will go off and we leave the coffee we bought. 

‘But we would never go up the coffee line or expect anyone to let us.’

Mr Spooner, who has been in the job for almost three decades, said they did have slow nights where the are allowed to recline.

‘But you don’t get a good night’s sleep,’ he said.

‘It’s not like sleep when you go to bed at home, it’s interrupted sleep as you’re always on edge – a garbage truck drives past and you’ve woken up.’