NOT an emergency!

In my arrogance I used to wonder how some of my co-workers could ever dial 911 (Canada's emergency phone number) by accident at work. Practically everyone in our office has done it once or twice. Our office's phone system requires us to dial '9' for an outside line before commencing the rest of the number which of course must be followed by '1' before the area code. How could they be so careless to let their finger linger too long on the '1'??

Then about a year ago I was the guilty party. It's a terrible feeling when you know you have just dialed 911 in error and they won't go away. You can't hang up. They will find you. And if you don't talk to them, you'll be seeing a fire truck, ambulance, and police on the scene, so you'd better fess up right away. At the very least, it is required that a cop come and visit you because it's their policy. I managed to talk the dispatcher out of sending the police, but I was just lucky that they broke policy that time.

Well............yesterday I did it again. I had to swallow my pride and despite my begging to the dispatcher, she said a police officer would be visiting me at the office shortly. While my co-workers snickered (oh they pretended they weren't), I slunk up to the front of the office and sheepishly greeted the 20-something cop who very politely poised his pen on his notebook and took down my name, my phone number and my birthdate. Why did they need my birthdate?? I figured that as he jotted it down, he was quietly surmising....mhmm...senility setting in....makes sense at that age. He kindly smiled and said, "Thank you ma'am. Sorry to have bothered you" (??), and I replied "No problem". (Tell me, what was WRONG with that conversation?)

I wish that was the end of my story. It's not.

Today.....yet again.....only hours later..........I stuttered on that '1' key again. Sick feeling. Dumb idiot feeling. I want to die feeling. Shouldn't they just fire me feeling. I pleaded with the dispatcher not to send the police, but somehow telling her that I did the same thing yesterday didn't seem the wisest thing to say. As I waited for the police officer, I hoped with all my heart it would not be the 20-something cop from yesterday. I went to the lone male co-worker whose too-thinly walled cubicle is surrounded by cubicles inhabited by menopausal women (that would include me) and told him he might as well just mock me now and get it over with. He was very kind. My phone rang. It was the police station verifying my location - the police would be there momentarily. I decided to head the cop off at the pass, rather than face a second day of humiliation in front of everyone at the front desk. I went out in the hall and met him there before he could enter the office. Thankfully it was not the same young fellow. This guy took no notes, just very kindly said he was so glad I was okay and that there was no emergency, and to my apology he replied not to worry - everyone slips up.

Three strikes and you're out? I am now paranoid. When I need to use the phone located to my left on the desk, I will stop using my left hand to dial which I just recently started to do (I'm right handed). I will pull my hand away immediately after the '9-1', even if I don't think the '1' quite got pressed.

It should be noted that several years ago I removed 911 from the programmed keys on my phone at home....after the dispatcher told me to......because I had pressed it while cleaning the keys of the phone. She wisely said it only takes 2 seconds to dial 911, so don't program it in!

I am resigned to count myself fortunate that our emergency system is well tested..... by people like me..... and we can count on patient, kind people to be there for us in the event of a real crisis!