(no subject)
*****I wrote this about a month ago. The power went out suddenly and I thought it was lost. I logged in today and found that it was saved as a draft. Guess I was having a bad day.*****
I love my job but I think it has changed me. Maybe not for the best either.
Before I was a dispatcher, I had the patience of Job. I never had a quick temper and it really took a lot to upset me. Sometimes it worried me that things that would make most people angry beyond belief never really phased me. I was able to shake off just about anything and not dwell on it. I enjoyed being that laid back, easy going, friendly person.
After being a dispatcher for 10 years, I have absolutely no patience and zero tolerance for stupidity. I find myself seething over things that used to never be an issue. I have to speak to idiots all day on the phone and sometimes, idiot officers that I work with.
I have no patience for people who abuse the 911 line anymore. I used to calmly explain to them that their issue was not an emergency and call back on the non-emergency line. Now, I feel like going through the phone, b*tch slapping them, and then removing their right to use any telecommunications devices because they are obviously not to be trusted to use them.
I am so sorry that McDonald's made your burger wrong but you ate the entire thing anyway and now can not figure out why they won't give you your money back. Next time, go to Burger King where you can have it your way. And don't call 911 for that!
I am so sorry that your neighbor was in your house this morning and stole your weed and now you want to report it stolen and have you neighbor arrested. Guess what, YOU are going to jail. And don't call 911 for that!
I am so sorry you can't read a recipe and want to know how long to cook your turkey. I don't know either, and frankly, unless you are bringing me some leftovers, I don't care. Don't call 911 for that!
You call me on a non-emergency line to report the smell of weed on the 6th floor. I put you on hold because I am on the 911 line speaking to a woman who is being beaten by her husband and I am trying to keep her safe and calm until my officer can get to her. Do not hang up and call back on the 911 line because you don't feel like staying on hold!! This woman's life is in danger and I couldn't care less about you smelling weed in the hallway!!
For the officer's who feel they need to tell me how to dispatch, I challenge you to work one shift in my place. You would fail miserably. I am sorry that you are a dirtbag and don't want to make your runs. If you don't want to do the job you have taken an oath to do, quit. Go back to the jail and play with your basketballs for 8 hours a day. I have been given direct orders on what we will and will not do by the Chief of Police. If you don't like the way he runs his ship, take it up with him, not me. I'm just a peon doing my job to the very best of my ability every shift I work to try to help keep YOU safe and going home to your family at the end of the day.
I have been worrying about how things that I think should have some effect on me just don't anymore. I don't know if it is that I have simply developed thicker skin to be able to handle the stress and darkness of my job or if my core has shifted to where I am just a cold, unfeeling person now. A young woman in our city was killed and she was a few months pregnant. Due to her history and current position in life, all I could think was that that poor baby was better off not being born to this woman. Instead of being sad at the loss of two lives, I just chalked it up to another day and went home. That scares me because I feel like that is not the old Julie that I was, and need to be again. I fear that I am so far jaded that I might not be able to find my way back to being a decent human being.
I love my job but I think it has changed me. Maybe not for the best either.
Before I was a dispatcher, I had the patience of Job. I never had a quick temper and it really took a lot to upset me. Sometimes it worried me that things that would make most people angry beyond belief never really phased me. I was able to shake off just about anything and not dwell on it. I enjoyed being that laid back, easy going, friendly person.
After being a dispatcher for 10 years, I have absolutely no patience and zero tolerance for stupidity. I find myself seething over things that used to never be an issue. I have to speak to idiots all day on the phone and sometimes, idiot officers that I work with.
I have no patience for people who abuse the 911 line anymore. I used to calmly explain to them that their issue was not an emergency and call back on the non-emergency line. Now, I feel like going through the phone, b*tch slapping them, and then removing their right to use any telecommunications devices because they are obviously not to be trusted to use them.
I am so sorry that McDonald's made your burger wrong but you ate the entire thing anyway and now can not figure out why they won't give you your money back. Next time, go to Burger King where you can have it your way. And don't call 911 for that!
I am so sorry that your neighbor was in your house this morning and stole your weed and now you want to report it stolen and have you neighbor arrested. Guess what, YOU are going to jail. And don't call 911 for that!
I am so sorry you can't read a recipe and want to know how long to cook your turkey. I don't know either, and frankly, unless you are bringing me some leftovers, I don't care. Don't call 911 for that!
You call me on a non-emergency line to report the smell of weed on the 6th floor. I put you on hold because I am on the 911 line speaking to a woman who is being beaten by her husband and I am trying to keep her safe and calm until my officer can get to her. Do not hang up and call back on the 911 line because you don't feel like staying on hold!! This woman's life is in danger and I couldn't care less about you smelling weed in the hallway!!
For the officer's who feel they need to tell me how to dispatch, I challenge you to work one shift in my place. You would fail miserably. I am sorry that you are a dirtbag and don't want to make your runs. If you don't want to do the job you have taken an oath to do, quit. Go back to the jail and play with your basketballs for 8 hours a day. I have been given direct orders on what we will and will not do by the Chief of Police. If you don't like the way he runs his ship, take it up with him, not me. I'm just a peon doing my job to the very best of my ability every shift I work to try to help keep YOU safe and going home to your family at the end of the day.
I have been worrying about how things that I think should have some effect on me just don't anymore. I don't know if it is that I have simply developed thicker skin to be able to handle the stress and darkness of my job or if my core has shifted to where I am just a cold, unfeeling person now. A young woman in our city was killed and she was a few months pregnant. Due to her history and current position in life, all I could think was that that poor baby was better off not being born to this woman. Instead of being sad at the loss of two lives, I just chalked it up to another day and went home. That scares me because I feel like that is not the old Julie that I was, and need to be again. I fear that I am so far jaded that I might not be able to find my way back to being a decent human being.