There is no good here.
So I just made my first-ever call to 911.
I was at a gas station near my house, and I was filling my tank when I heard somebody screaming. And I saw a man and a woman struggling in a van -- at first I thought it was just a recalcitrant, or disabled, kid because all I could see were sneakers flailing. But she stuck her top half out of the van and screamed "call the police!" So I went to the parking lot next door and did just that.
Honestly, I'm not entirely sure that this wasn't just a fight. The other thing she kept screaming was, "You broke my phone!" Which doesn't have the ring of "I'm about to be raped and killed." And the truth is, I see a lot of screaming arguments in my neighborhood, which is very much the wrong side of the tracks.
But I got the license plate number and described the van, which happened to have a massive business name painted all over it. Unfortunately, they drove off while I was trying to tell the 911 dispatcher what the street number of the gas station was. Which is how I discovered that the technology available to 911 dispatchers is substantially inferior to Google maps -- I told her what gas station and the road, but she couldn't enter that and figure out where I was, and as a result the guys drove off and I didn't see what direction they went in.
The dispatcher also didn't tell me to stay at the scene, and so once I realized the van had driven off, I left. Was that bad? I mean, there were a half-dozen other people there who got as good or better a look at the situation, including all the guys who worked there. I gave my name and number, and I assume if they need anything else from me they'll call.
I feel very guilty about this now.
I was at a gas station near my house, and I was filling my tank when I heard somebody screaming. And I saw a man and a woman struggling in a van -- at first I thought it was just a recalcitrant, or disabled, kid because all I could see were sneakers flailing. But she stuck her top half out of the van and screamed "call the police!" So I went to the parking lot next door and did just that.
Honestly, I'm not entirely sure that this wasn't just a fight. The other thing she kept screaming was, "You broke my phone!" Which doesn't have the ring of "I'm about to be raped and killed." And the truth is, I see a lot of screaming arguments in my neighborhood, which is very much the wrong side of the tracks.
But I got the license plate number and described the van, which happened to have a massive business name painted all over it. Unfortunately, they drove off while I was trying to tell the 911 dispatcher what the street number of the gas station was. Which is how I discovered that the technology available to 911 dispatchers is substantially inferior to Google maps -- I told her what gas station and the road, but she couldn't enter that and figure out where I was, and as a result the guys drove off and I didn't see what direction they went in.
The dispatcher also didn't tell me to stay at the scene, and so once I realized the van had driven off, I left. Was that bad? I mean, there were a half-dozen other people there who got as good or better a look at the situation, including all the guys who worked there. I gave my name and number, and I assume if they need anything else from me they'll call.
I feel very guilty about this now.