Calling 911

I have called 911 exactly 2 times in my life. The first time was in New York and some old lady at the local deli was lying on the floor. I was trying to get a bagel to get to class. I realized, mostly because she was staring right at me, that I was going to have to get involved. There were 2 store employees helping her up. She was crying. (When old people cry it’s the saddest thing in the whole world). I asked they people there “Is everything ok?” to which they responded “Yes, she does this all the time.” She was staring at me asking me to please call 911. The store people said not to. I didn’t want to turn down a crying old lady, so I said “Ok”. I called, I told 911 the situation. I gave them my name and the address of the deli. I finally got my bagel and I went to school.

The second time I called, I was in NY with friends of mine from out of town. We were next to a park and it was late at night. We had been drinking, and my friend didn’t feel like walking around the park to go home. NY closes some of their parks at night for safety. I insisted my friend walk around the park, he said ok and then jumped the fence. We all had to at this point to follow him. We crossed the very scary park and saw one bench lit by one street lamp. There was a guy standing up in front of another man on his knees. It looked like he was holding a gun to his head. They were arguing. So, we decided to run the rest of the way across the park. We finally got out and sat on the steps of my apartment discussing what we saw. I decided to call 911 and let them know. When I called, they said “Hello, Ms. *****, how can I help you?”. I was PISSED. I don’t want 911 to know my name. I don’t want to call them in a personal emergency and have them say “What is it now Erin?”. I told them the situation and hung up.

There may have been one more time that I called, but I don’t remember. On CNN today, there is a link to a 911 call where a guy called 911 asking them to please pick him up and take him to the store to buy beer. When they said they don’t do that, he asked ok can you please go the store and bring beer back to him. That’s pretty funny if you ask me. Interestingly enough though, the 911 operator didn’t know his name. Why do they only know me?