Humour of the Situation
Me?
I'm a random queer human living in the flatlands.
I work as a 911 dispatcher. I volunteer as a crisis counselor.
These are my thoughts, adventures, and creations.
It’s a New Year and with it comes a fresh opportunity to shape our world.
So this is my wish, a wish for me as much as it is a wish for you: in the world to come, let us be brave – let us walk into the dark without fear, and step into the unknown with smiles on our faces, even if we’re faking them.
And whatever happens to us, whatever we make, whatever we learn, let us take joy in it. We can find joy in the world if it’s joy we’re looking for, we can take joy in the act of creation.
So that is my wish for you, and for me. Bravery and joy.
(via neil-gaiman)
Some of the thoughts from last night’s “Everyone is Bullied” Panel.
Dispatcher R: What’s your address?
Caller: I don’t know. I just moved here.
Dispatcher R: Well I show you calling from 1000 Happy Acres, at the Ironically Named Nursing Home.
Caller: I think that’s right. I think this place is a nut house.
Dispatcher R: …
Dispatcher R: What’s going on there today?
Caller: I have a broken hip.
Dispatcher R: How’d you break your hip?
Caller: My bastard husband. He’s very strong. He doesn’t know his own strength.
I came across this yesterday thanks to a friend, and have been mulling it over ever since. This comes up just as I’m wrestling together a project on bullying, and I think it has a pretty interesting answer to the question of why bullying happens, and why it happens on the internet. This also speaks to forgiveness and how we see each other in ways I’m sure I’ll be thinking about for awhile.
“When I left Twitter numerous people thought it was as a result of an overreaction on my behalf. That my departure was a kneejerk reaction to a couple of ‘trolling’ or ‘flaming’ incidents or that I was attention seeking. The reality of the situation is that my wife and I were targeted for over 3 years.”
I both love and hate training new dispatchers.
Right now I’m working with someone who’s really struggling, and down to his last chance to either get this or be out the door. I spent all day yesterday dealing with his inability to comprehend things people on the phone say. It’s exceptionally frustrating, and more common than you’d think - how little we all really listen to each other.
Today we’ve been focusing on using your voice as a tool to gain control of a call, about how intent colors your inflection and tone; contempt reads as rudeness, pity reads as weakness. It is hard to find a voice that is Neutral, Confident, Competent, and still Compassionate - and harder still once you’ve found that voice to teach it.
I say a silent thank you to every acting teacher I ever had, as I try to teach these things to another person who for some crazy reason wants to sit in this chair.
I wish us both luck, it’s going to be a long month.
Best. Ticket. Ever.
From my amazing friend Tricia, over at buffalotracts.com:
I know that we try to talk with some frequency here about how every one of us is a brilliant, critical part of the universe with the power to change the world, I also know that when you’re staring down the Void, all the pithy sayings in the world about being a beautiful and unique snowflake don’t seem to amount to much.
So I’m going to say it this way, over and over, using small words and no cutesy illustrations:
You. Matter.
Go read the rest of her fantastic words here, http://buffalotracts.com/2012/09/10/you-matter/
Also, You Matter.
Really.
I may be way too tired to write anything, preventing that sense of “this is dumb” from taking over when I try to start typing…but I do recognize a good idea when I see one, and I can muster the energy to share it.
Hey, do you Cranquistadors miss those funny healthcare anecdotes submitted by guest writers, like Dr. Trix (the pediatrician) or The GNU (the Greatest ER Nurse in the Universe)? Well then, say “Konnichiwa” to Dr. Cranquis’ latest guest submitter: Dispatch Daddy, a 9-1-1 emergency…
If I’d KNOWN you were looking for funny dispatchers I would have auditioned. ;)
This story does however demonstrate a nearly universal constant:
Kids are almost ALWAYS calmer than adults on 911 calls.
That said, I am still mystified when people have their 6yo call 911 instead of calling themselves - which demonstrates a second nearly universal constant:
When in a crisis, people will make very strange decisions.
While working in your garage, you discover a pimple inside the cup of your external ear. In true “future urgent care patient” fashion, you decide the best course of action is to pop it. Since it has always been your goal to end up starring in an anonymous internet blog with the tag “stupidiot”…
Two words: Job Security.
Meet The CAD.
The CAD makes noises.
Lots of noises.
Little ones and big ones.
All sorts of noises.
They are supposed to tell me that some specific event has happened.
Along with flashing colors and such.
There’s this one noise that sounds like the beginning of 2001 A Space Odyssey.
I have to sing along with it sometimes.
OK.
I have to sing along with it almost always.
There. Now you know my secret shame.
