Pride Is Good For Business

Pride is good for business.

The citizens want us to own tradition.

Our greatest form of public outreach isn't social media —
it's honoring the traditions of the fire service.

They want strong, healthy men in blue uniforms.
Beautiful rigs with red lights and gold flake paint.

They want pride.
They want morale.
They want hearty smiles.

They want reassurance.

Citizens may not know the details of our job —
but they know what confidence looks like.

Firefighters want to belong to the tradition.

But the public wants their piece of it too.

They want to believe their city has a fire department worth bragging about —
like the storied companies of any great American city.

We should be selling the opportunity to be part of that legacy,
not turning our backs on it.

If tradition is to be accessible to all,
it must be built strong enough to carry the weight.

Over the years, we've earned an almost mythical reputation.

Sometimes we’ve deserved it.
Sometimes we haven’t.

But when the public calls —
they want the presence of that legacy.

It comforts them.

And when we forsake that pedigree?

We are nothing.

Just another entry in the phone book.

The public deserves response from an institution larger than all of us.

So when you see members adorning themselves,
their rigs, their house —
with personalization, with reverence, with style —

This is not insurrection.

This is pride.

And pride is good for business.