919 Cookie and other amusements

April 14, 2000

I just shared Kathy's story of the " Happy 919 Week " Cookie with my on-duty crew

and we got a good laugh at it.

It's busiern' snot today and they needed the giggle.

One of the dispatchers shared that a good friend of hers is a bank manager, and

that woman has ALWAYS been concerned that she might dial 9-1-1 instead of 4-1-1,

so she's very careful when calling Directory Assistance. Guess what? Yup, she

dialed 4-1-1 when the bank was robbed a few months ago..

The local newspaper article about our Comm Center garnered an interesting

response: the guy we mentioned that calls regularly for his commute route status

read the paper, recognized himself, and yesterday afternoon brought in a card

and an apple pie (from Baker's Square) for us! <grin> The card's pretty cute,

too. It shows an old, beat-up pickup perched up high in the branches of a tree,

and the printed message inside reads: " I can explain. " His handwritten message

was, " All the dispatchers, thank you! " He signed it with his name and added,

" ...on the road again. " (Oh, he never uses 9-1-1 for his inquiries. We just

think it's odd that we all know him by name.... since he initiates the

conversation by identifying himself. It's " Mister " [somebody], never any first

name given. I think we're pretty fond of him now. He's very respectful,

doesn't mind being placed on hold while we do other stuff, and whatever it is

that he does 75 miles away, he goes to work at all hours of the day or night.

One dispatcher asked him, " Mr. [Name], what are you doing UP at 3 a.m.? " and he

laughed and said, " Flexible scheduling, supposed to reduce being stuck in

regular commute traffic, but you and I both know one rolled big-rig can screw up

the road at any time! "

He's got that right! We're working a two-big-rigs-plus-two-passenger-vehicles

accident right now... they might not have rolled any of 'em, but it sucks

nonetheless. Is it more ironic, or less, that it's a beautiful spring day?

Nasty accidents should only happen in inclement weather <says she,

emphatically>.

Happy to be here, proud to serve.

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