New Baby in the House :)

Haha...not that kind of baby :) We are now proud parents of an eight week old kitten named (aptly) Lil Shit. We tried a dog, long-term dog-sitting was a great way to learn that we are really not home enough to handle a dog at the moment and that is exactly the great thing about cats. They are extremely self-sufficient! I know there are cat people and dog people, we happen to be both in this house, and various other types of animals too. As I sit here writing this she's walking across the keyboard opening programs like a pro house cat.

Delimma

This is a post that is definitely different than my usual, however it still may pertain to the general theme. :) This job has its stresses, its ups and its down. Yet, somehow, they seem to be easier to handle within the job than in my personal life. I have a dear friend, who at one point worked in this field. She's what I would tongue-in-cheek call, "emergency services royalty" her father is a career fire fighter who is one of our assistant chiefs, and her mother is an ER lifer. She's also an alcoholic. She left the PD a month and half ago in order to seek help, specifically, AA. Two days ago, she fell off the wagon. I'm so torn right now because I know I need to call her parents, who have threatened her with rehab if she relapsed, but at the same time I want to give her another chance to get it together. My brother is accusing me of ignoring the problem and coddling her, I don't feel that this is the case because being an alcoholic isn't her only issue. I just don't want to betray her, but I want her to get help. Sometimes, what makes me so good at this job, makes me a horrible friend.

There's nothing better than being able to sit down with a few of your closest fellow dispatchers (i.e. the ones you hang out with outside of work) or officers and reminisce about either the most bizarre calls, callers, and instances. I do complain ( a lot ), but I'm pretty blessed to have some of the best officers a department could have. True, sometimes they make me want to choke them and departmental politics gets everyone twisted up from time to time, but overall, they make this job fun. There's also a rare feature among them, several are former dispatchers. This department prefers to pull from dispatchers when hiring from patrol. Yes, you still have to pass the physical (pushups suck, by the way. They are by no means, perfect, but I've been around a lot of agencies and a lot of police officers, troopers and deputies. Let's say I have a unique group of people and I'm glad to call them friends.

Ever..?

Have you ever worked with someone who has to have the last word? Or someone who has to interject themself into your conversation that you are having with someone else? Or perhaps has to tell the same story 25 times within an 8 hour period? I do. :) In a 25X25 room. Love this job!

Parallel

It continually fascinates me how we as dispatchers (and officers) tend to live in these parallel universes. We co-exist with the everyday public, celebrate birthdays, holidays and family milestones, same as everyone. However, once we put on our uniform or headset, the world shifts and our view becomes reset. Today is Mother's Day, a day where families all across the country celebrate the Matriarch of the family, some may be bound by blood, others by choice to these women who have shaped their lives, loved and cared for them. Today, I went to the Mother's Service at church then to my parents for dinner. My brother and I purchased the requisite cards and presents (mine was a 9 week old Labrador Puppy, because I was afraid she was getting empty nest syndrome) then changed clothes and was sitting behind a radio by 1500. Now here, barely an hour in, we've had multiple calls referencing custody, exchanges, and arguements. It's as though this is the parallel universe's way of celebrating, sad as it may be.

Cats and Dogs

I ran across an old article this morning from LawOfficer.com After rereading it for probably the 5th time, I finally realized that my department doesn't suffer from this problem in the typical sense, but rather any animosity is generated from the Dispatch department. If Dispatchers are cats and Police Officers are Dogs (just an example) you would expect the typical relationship - except it doesn't exist. I'm not saying they are all perfect angels who don't get rude on the radio or play 20 questions, asking for information that you've already provided or would have had you had it, but overall, they behave themselves pretty well. The problem lies within dispatch. They purposely try to throw each other under the bus, whether it be fellow dispatcher or officer and basically act like overgrown middleschoolers. It's mind blowing to me that people who are responsible for lives can act this way. Some days, it's not much better than the unruly citizens we talk to on a daily basis. Just a reminder to departments out there, sometimes you need to fix the internal problems with dispatch before their attitudes become costly.

Being A Good Soldier

I suppose when one works in Emergency Services or Law Enforcement Communications, schedule changes and switcharoos shouldn't come as too much of a surprise. I've always prided myself in being easy-going and flexible, however the changes that occurred last week almost pushed me over the edge. Even as I write that last line I laugh, mostly because it was mostly me being cranky and being subject to changes that weren't my own idea. I do have a little problem with cooperativeness, (just see my quarterly evaluation ;)). To say that my apple cart has been upset is putting it mildly...but I'm being a good little soldier and making the best of an irritating situation. I came back from vacation to find myself placed on a new shift with new hours and new partners. I've been a morning/night/hoot shift dispatcher since I started this adventure 3 years ago and moving to 1500-2300 has been a little bit of a challenge. Of course there's all kinds of backstory that is unique to every department, I may or may not have been replaced on my shift with dispatchers who shouldn't be dispatching...just saying! I'm making the most of my new shift, enjoying the propensity for ridiculousness that occurs :)