This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things

Because some left the ICS board in the back of the truck, someone else laminated a plan no one can read, and someone just spent $800 of grant money on a tactical vest they’ll never deploy.

This is not your standard-issue responder manual.

In This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things (Responder Edition), veteran disaster responder and brutally honest trainer E.G. Weiss holds up the mirror – and then cracks it with sarcasm, hard truth, and laugh-out-loud realness. From morale patches that lie, to conferences filled with influencer keynotes who’ve never seen a triage tag, this book rips into the dysfunctional culture we’ve built with duct tape, ego, and acronyms no one understands. You’ll laugh. You’ll wince. You’ll probably text a colleague to say “This chapter is 100% about you.” But beneath the humor is a deep challenge: to do better – for the next generation of responders, for our families, and for ourselves. Whether you’re a cop, medic, firefighter, emergency manager, dispatcher, border agent, or just someone who’s ever muttered, “What the hell are we doing?” while holding a clipboard – this book is your invitation to stop the madness. Stop shooting yourself in the foot. Start building a legacy worth handing down.
And finally – finally – let’s figure out why we can’t have nice things.