This will be my 28th winter as a 911 dispatcher.  This job kills the joy of winter!  For you non-Iowans, we have a forecast blizzard warning for the state tonight and tomorrow…a lot of  folks are posting about how excited they are for the snow/blizzard so they can sit home and drink hot chocolate…meanwhile I’m reading these comments and thinking…are you people just nuts?  But I get it…

A winter storm blizzard to me means drivers in the ditches and everyone who has a cell phone calls to tell us about it..we call them cell phone heros..they don’t stop…they just call…it’s nothing to get 10 calls about 1 vehicle in the ditch when you magnify that by 50 cars in the ditch, you can understand how difficult it is to do anything else other than answer the phone….like page ambulances or other emergency vehicles.  When it gets that bad..usually we just have to tell people that they are patrolling and will get to you when they can…normally the state puts a tow ban on which means that unless you are sitting in the middle of the highway, your car is in the ditch until it is safe to pull out…of course, there are those who want to remain in their car…even when told that it could be a couple of days before they can get a wrecker..at first…you can’t pry them from their cars…of course the cell phone heros continue to call about them…eventually it sinks in and they want to be picked up.  When the ice and snow take the power down, what do you do…call 911..well there are a lot of people who do.Why would you possibly call 911 when your power goes out…I cannot and never will be able to turn on your power…why not call the post office when you need an ambulance.  I think I’ve probably said about all that needs to be said about hating winter as a 911 dispatcher.

Now.  If I’m off work and “he” is off work and the kids are safe.  I LOVE A BIG SNOW!!!  I love to walk on those nights when it is very still…big snow flakes coming down and the layer of snow cushions all noise…I have thought before that it just doesn’t get any better than this!

Until next time…..