A question posted recently on Quora asked, “Why are U.S. fire trucks always so well-polished?” in reference to tax money being spent. Mick Mayers, a chief fire officer and instructor-trainer, gave his opinion on the topic below. Check it out and add your own thoughts in the comments.
I’m amazed by the number of haters on Quora, or maybe its just the same one posting often. If I were to go into my local fire station and see it a mess, I’d assume the firefighters weren’t very good stewards of the tools my tax dollars paid for. If I saw them just throw equipment on the ground, or if it were in disrepair, I’d probably assume they take my efforts for granted. We keep the trucks shiny in our department because they don’t belong to us, they belong to you.
Except like in my community, where I AM a resident and a taxpayer and a firefighter. In which case, they are mine too and I want people to take care of the things my tax dollars pay for.
As far as being worried about your precious tax dollars, I’ll bet that you pay more for garbage collection and cable TV per year than you do for fire protection. Yet neither of those things (nor any other you probably spend a lot more for) are going to come get you off the floor at four in the morning or keep the fire at your neighbors house from spreading to yours. We take helping you seriously and while there are costs for fire protection, we are very careful to not waste a dime, because it’s our money too.