April 13, 2005

To Serve and Protect

James Joyner relays a news report about a woman in Texas who called 9-1-1 to deal with her unruly daughter and was asked by the operator, "Do you want us to come over there and shoot her?"

The woman didn't think this was s'damn funny.

I do.

Furthermore, there is a certain time of day - know around our house as the "Arsenic Hour" - when my immediate response to such a question would be, "Lock and load!"

Posted by Robert at April 13, 2005 05:29 PM
Comments

You think it's funny that a woman called for help and that was the professional's response?

Typical conservative ridiculousness.

Posted by: carla at April 14, 2005 12:08 AM

I heard the 911 tape this morning on the way in to work and yes this woman deserved to be ridiculed. I’m sorry but if you 12 year old child run the house then you’ve got bigger problems than a hole in the door. Not to mention the guy was clearly joking and trying to lighten up the situation.

For professionals help, I’d recommend she consult:
1) Social Services to get the monsters out of her house, we don't need her raising the Aileen Wuornos.
2) A doctor to have her tubes tied, if she hasn’t already. If she can't control the two she has she shouldn't have any more.
3) A doctor to have a spine inserted.

Posted by: phin at April 14, 2005 09:20 AM

Oh come now Carla, don't you want a bit of spirit in your public servants? Of COURSE the guy was kidding. It's not like the child was still in the womb and could be eliminated by legal means... sheesh.

Posted by: Paladin at April 14, 2005 09:21 AM

What? The dispatcher was joking?

Jeesh, that just ruins the whole thing for me, being the ridiculous conservative that I am.

Posted by: Robert the LB at April 14, 2005 09:47 AM

A true conservative wouldn't waste that precious asset. The kid's too old for the clothing mills, but she's probably perfect for the mines.

Posted by: RobertJ at April 14, 2005 10:30 AM

Or maybe the woman had an out of control child that she really needed help with.

But since this is from conservatives...it only matters if they're in the womb or on a feeding tube...then you'll run right over there, government "mandate" in hand..to take over.

Posted by: carla at April 14, 2005 10:38 AM

It's a good thing we have carla around to dispell the myth of liberals as shrill, humorless, and self-absorbed.

Posted by: Brian B at April 14, 2005 11:29 AM

There are places for out of control children that parents need help with, Juvenile Hall rings a bell. But seriously, since when do we get to use police resources to calm a child down. There is a rule of thumb out there for this kind of activity, its called parenting. . .oh wait, I forgot, liberals think everyone else should do that job for them to, sorry carla, I'm not biting!

Posted by: Oddybobo at April 14, 2005 12:23 PM

How did the mom sound when she was on the phone with the dispatcher? I have a feeling this convo was blown out of context, and that the dispatcher was simply responding to the way the mom sounded on the phone.
Any parent of a 12 and 14 yr old who doesn't think the guy is joking needs to either loosen up a little or spend more time around teenagers.
I'm with Robert, had a good laugh over his "lock n load!" comment.

Our teenagers were brought up in such a way that we don't need to call 911 when they act up. They're good kids overall, but they're human: sometimes they argue or fight, yada yada.
They were taught respect from a very early age. and the first sign of respect?? DONT PISS OFF MOM BY FIGHTING WITH YOUR SISTER WHEN MOM IS AT WORK!
they would have had to deal with ME when I got home, not the cops.
and that's the way it's supposed to be.

Posted by: Laura at April 14, 2005 01:00 PM

I mentioned earlier that I heard the 911 tape this morning on the way in to work. The woman sounded calm, she didn't sound upset or in danger, just that she had kids out of control & couldn't cope with it.

Which isn't a reason to call 911.

So yes she deserves to be laughed at.

Carla as someone mentioned at my site: If the danger was so severe and real shouldn't the woman be charged with child endangerment or neglect?

Posted by: phin at April 14, 2005 02:46 PM

If the danger was so severe and real shouldn't the woman be charged with child endangerment or neglect?

You mean, hold her responsible, instead of letting the state make everything better?

Tsk.

How draconianly right-wing of you.

Posted by: Brian B at April 14, 2005 03:47 PM

Operator: "9-1-1 whats your EMERGENCY?"

Mother: "I'm a moron and my children are destroying my house!!"

Operator: "Ma'am, we're sorry your too stupid to exist, but you need to put your foot down and tell them to stop ASAP!"

Mother: "But that's sooo hard and they'll be mad at me!!"

Operator: "Sorry, ma'am, but it's tough love, if you don't make them obey now, you'll have bigger trouble later"

Mother: (whines) "but can't you get a policeman to come here and make them behave?"

Operator: "well ma'am we shouldn't WASTE the police forces' time on idiots like you, 9-1-1 is for REAL emergencies, not for oxygen wasters' who can't cope with bratty unruly kids!"
Operator: "we are also going to fine you a gazillion dollars for tying up 9-1-1 with your stupidity! Oh and one last thing...DON'T have any more children, the police will be busy enough with your monsters when they start breaking the LAW, which I expect to be VERY soon!!" "
"good-bye"
Mother:(said as she hangs up phone) "DAMN, I have to be responsible?! Crap! how do you that?!"

Posted by: cheri at April 14, 2005 04:17 PM

Well, now I bet the kids REALLY respect her now that this has become national news. Gee, Mom, not only can we run the house, you have achieved your 15 minutes of fame by becoming the laughing stock of the country. What's next? Why don't you SUE the dispatcher, the town and the county for emotional distress?

Posted by: Tulip at April 14, 2005 05:40 PM

Carla as someone mentioned at my site: If the danger was so severe and real shouldn't the woman be charged with child endangerment or neglect?

When danger is severe....you don't consider it responsible to call 911?

Btw...many people are often calm and cool headed when they're in danger and calling 911. If the woman was truely frazzled because of out of control kids..I doubt she'd be so calm.

The responsible thing to do when you're in a dangerous or severe situation is call for help if you need it. How bizarre to have to point that out.

Posted by: carla at April 14, 2005 08:57 PM

This woman who call 911 to complain about her unruly kids is a functional idiot. I'm sorry, but it is, what it is. 911 is for emergencies (police, fire, EMS). It is NOT the Dr. Phil feel-good, talk to my kids, lets have an encounter session help line. It seems the dispatcher got a laugh at her expense, well she deserved it. Somewhere along the line, she dropped the ball and didn't bother to get it back.

I grew up in a large family, and while it wasn't "The Waltons" all the time, there was absolutely no doubt who was in charge - and that was Mom.

Posted by: KMR at April 14, 2005 09:28 PM
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