People are so quick to judge others. They look at someone and, without taking the time to get to know the person, they immediately judge them by their looks or by what clothes they're wearing. And this is very sad. They may be missing out on meeting the best friend they'll ever meet or maybe even the love of their life. Maybe those tattered jeans and raggedy shirt are the only clothes that person owns and can't afford to buy new ones because he/she has children home to feed or there are other things more important like paying the bills or buying medicine. It's just like judging another by the color of their skin. It's not right nor acceptable. Some of the best people I know are the ones who are poor. They spend their last dollar to buy an ice cream cone for their young child. They would rather do without themselves than see their children suffer. The world is a tough place and not everyone can be lucky enough to have money to spare after the necessities of life are paid for. I pride myself on getting to know the person, not what they're wearing nor the size of their wallet. And I just wish everyone was like that. I have no patience for people who look down their noses at someone for only giving $5 as a gift at a birthday party. That $5 may be all they have. I wouldn't even care if they didn't give anything. Just their presence is gift enough. Do you have a smile to share? That's the best present of all.
And it's the people who sneer and criticize who are the ones who fail to see their own shortcomings, of which there are many. They're certainly not perfect by a long shot.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Calling 911
Why do people insist on abusing the 911 system? There are so many cases of people calling 911 for issues not even remotely resembling an emergency. Do they not know that (1) they are tying up the line for REAL emergencies? and (2) they are adding to the cases that police dispatchers and 911 dispatchers don't take seriously because they feel they're pranks?
Consider the case of a Boynton Beach, Florida man calling 911 because Burger King did not have lemonade....or the Oregon woman who called 911 because a cop who had responded to a call she had made earlier concerning a "noise" was the cutest cop she'd seen in a long time.
With cell phones in abundance now, a study has shown that as many as 45% of emergency calls placed were prank calls. They think it's funny to fake an emergency? Maybe these "pranksters" should be slapped with some jail time. Maybe then they wouldn't think it was so humorous.
Callers to the system aren't the only culprits. Some of the dispatchers answering the calls and the police responding to the calls are questionable at best.
There was a case of a woman being abducted from her home by a plumber. Her husband returned home to find his two little boys crammed into a crib and their mother's cell phone and purse that were left behind. She had disappeared.
That evening, a woman placed a call to 911, reporting a woman in the back of a car that had pulled up alongside her at a traffic light. The woman in the car had been crying and banging on the window. The 911 dispatcher never passed the report onto the police. A few days later the woman's naked body was found in a shallow grave; sexually assaulted and shot. The 911 operator was suspended without pay for only 60 hours.
Consider another case in Pittsburgh where a woman called 911, asking that her 22-year-old son be removed from her home. She told the dispatcher that her son had weapons but the dispatcher failed to pass this information onto the police responding to the scene. As a result, three police officers were shot and killed and one was wounded when the son opened fired with an AK-47 rifle. The 911 operator was given paid leave.
Yet another case finds a 21-year-old University of Wisconsin woman calling 911 and then hanging up. When the tape was later listened to, audible screams and sounds of a struggle were in the background. The 911 operator said that she heard no background noise, yet it was clearly evident on the tape. Later, the woman's boyfriend found her stabbed and beaten to death in her apartment. This operator was fired, however, is appealing.
One more case involves a little boy calling 911 to report his mom passing out. The 911 operator wanted to speak to her. The little boy kept trying to explain that she couldn't come to the phone because she was passed out. The operator ended up getting angry at the little boy after repeated requests to put his mother on the phone, believing that the call was a joke. She reported it to the police and when they got to the home, the little boy's mom was dead. The 911 operator was fired, appealed, and is back on the job, answering 911 calls. Gee, maybe we'll be lucky enough that she'll be the one answering when we have to call.
And shouldn't all 911 operators be trained to give aid over the phone? Consider the case of the toddler who strangled in a soccer net and the 911 dispatcher would not (or could not) tell her how to perform CPR.
Maybe the prank calls are the reason most operators are wary and suspicious of all calls but I think all 911 operators should be willing and able to explain lifesaving procedures, warn police about weapons at a scene and take all calls seriously unless there's good reason to think it's a prank.
And the pranksters out there should think about what would happen if it was one of their loved ones in danger and not treat the 911 emergency system as their own personal play station.
Consider the case of a Boynton Beach, Florida man calling 911 because Burger King did not have lemonade....or the Oregon woman who called 911 because a cop who had responded to a call she had made earlier concerning a "noise" was the cutest cop she'd seen in a long time.
With cell phones in abundance now, a study has shown that as many as 45% of emergency calls placed were prank calls. They think it's funny to fake an emergency? Maybe these "pranksters" should be slapped with some jail time. Maybe then they wouldn't think it was so humorous.
Callers to the system aren't the only culprits. Some of the dispatchers answering the calls and the police responding to the calls are questionable at best.
There was a case of a woman being abducted from her home by a plumber. Her husband returned home to find his two little boys crammed into a crib and their mother's cell phone and purse that were left behind. She had disappeared.
That evening, a woman placed a call to 911, reporting a woman in the back of a car that had pulled up alongside her at a traffic light. The woman in the car had been crying and banging on the window. The 911 dispatcher never passed the report onto the police. A few days later the woman's naked body was found in a shallow grave; sexually assaulted and shot. The 911 operator was suspended without pay for only 60 hours.
Consider another case in Pittsburgh where a woman called 911, asking that her 22-year-old son be removed from her home. She told the dispatcher that her son had weapons but the dispatcher failed to pass this information onto the police responding to the scene. As a result, three police officers were shot and killed and one was wounded when the son opened fired with an AK-47 rifle. The 911 operator was given paid leave.
Yet another case finds a 21-year-old University of Wisconsin woman calling 911 and then hanging up. When the tape was later listened to, audible screams and sounds of a struggle were in the background. The 911 operator said that she heard no background noise, yet it was clearly evident on the tape. Later, the woman's boyfriend found her stabbed and beaten to death in her apartment. This operator was fired, however, is appealing.
One more case involves a little boy calling 911 to report his mom passing out. The 911 operator wanted to speak to her. The little boy kept trying to explain that she couldn't come to the phone because she was passed out. The operator ended up getting angry at the little boy after repeated requests to put his mother on the phone, believing that the call was a joke. She reported it to the police and when they got to the home, the little boy's mom was dead. The 911 operator was fired, appealed, and is back on the job, answering 911 calls. Gee, maybe we'll be lucky enough that she'll be the one answering when we have to call.
And shouldn't all 911 operators be trained to give aid over the phone? Consider the case of the toddler who strangled in a soccer net and the 911 dispatcher would not (or could not) tell her how to perform CPR.
Maybe the prank calls are the reason most operators are wary and suspicious of all calls but I think all 911 operators should be willing and able to explain lifesaving procedures, warn police about weapons at a scene and take all calls seriously unless there's good reason to think it's a prank.
And the pranksters out there should think about what would happen if it was one of their loved ones in danger and not treat the 911 emergency system as their own personal play station.
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