I hear them ask on the news, "Who will you call in an emergency?" and I wanted to share this.
Have you ever made an emergency call for help? Like to the sheriff or police department? Well I never have that is, I hadn't until a few days ago, on the night of July 3.
David and I had been watching President Donald Trump on TV, and I had set my reading glasses aside. After the president was off, we decided to go to bed. As David was locking the doors and shutting off the lights, I was turning off the computers and my new "smart" cellphone.
I reached for my glasses but didn't see them. Fine, I thought, I really don't have to have them. Wrong! On my new phone, you squeeze both sides and on the screen it gives you two options: Shut down, or call 911. Of course, not seeing very well in the darkened room, and without my glasses, I hit the wrong one!
I panicked and tried to shut my phone off, but it would not turn off after calling in an emergency. Finally, it gave me the option to end the call. I went on to bed and I told David I hoped the call didn't go through, but if there happens to be a knock on the door, we'll know who it is.
We talked a couple minutes and then he turned over and fell asleep. Within minutes, I heard the doorbell. I hurriedly grabbed my robe trying to get to the door. There stood a deputy from our sheriff's department. He introduced himself — I don't remember who he was because I was too embarrassed. He said there was a 911 from this address and asked if I was OK. I explained I had called by mistake, hit the wrong button.
He asked if anyone was in the house besides me. I told him only my husband who was asleep. He was very nice about the call and said that happens, but asked if he could come inside a minute. I said sure.
This time it wasn't needed, but just think, what if there was someone in our house threatening us? It is very comforting knowing he was ready and, I have no doubt, able to handle the situation.
Remember the phones we had back when we were young? It makes the ones we have now seem like they came from a Star Trek movie. You never had to worry about losing them or making the wrong call. The big old wood box with the crank on it hung on the wall.
"Now don't answer if it rings twice, that's Aunt Ruby's ring," Mom would say. "We must wait for four rings to know it was ours."
And you could pick up the phone and talk with the caller too, if you wanted.
Recently, my husband, David, and I were talking with a friend and he asked, "Ever lose your cellphone?" My first response was "No" — That was a horrifying thought.
As we talked to our friend, David reminded me, "You have lost your cellphone once."
I was puzzled. "I have?" I said.
He reminded me of years ago when I first got one. I hadn't exactly lost it, but it had a fatal injury. On our farm, the drain pipes outdoors had gotten sluggish. He had taken off the cap on the pipe that sticks up out of the ground and was using the metal snake down it, to make sure nothing had it stopped up.
"Come and work the snake for me while I go get the water hose," David said. I never, ever, put things in my shirt pocket, but for some reason this time, I did. I bet you already know what happened next. I bent over to look down the hole and work the metal snake then plunk! Down went my cellphone.
David came around the house with the hose and I told him, "There is one thing down there for sure — my cellphone!"
He rigged up a wire on a long pipe and actually got it out, but it wouldn't work.
There was not much harm done that time, as my phone was a "Plain Jane," as they say. I did learn not to put anything in my shirt pocket ever again. Nowadays, losing my phone would be a more serious issue. I use my iPhone for everything: buying, banking, appointments, etc.
David and I were discussing how much we have seen phones change in our lifetimes. We've gone from no phones to the ones we have now, where you can ask directions when you can't find your destination, or talk into it and it will even type a message to someone you choose.
Times sure have changed, and I cannot imagine not having the phone of today. I'm sure the deputy that answered my call was glad as I was that there wasn't really an emergency.
We feel very blessed to have such a fine sheriff, Clay Chism, and his crew of competent deputies who work hard 24/7 to protect us from lawlessness. We want to say thank you, and what a comfort it is knowing that here in Callaway County, if there is an emergency, you can call, and they will come.
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July 15, 2020 at 12:54PM
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Who will you call for an emergency? - Fulton Sun
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