we also have a few accounts that are fire/safety related. i had an unusual call from one such account last night and, since i'm having kind of a rough evening at work tonight, i figured i'd share it with you.
now, most of the calls on this particular account are from officers who are either letting us know they are 10-41 (beginning their shift) or 10-42 (ending their shift). we simply take down the information and add the message to the queue to be sent to the office in the morning. per the instructions from the office,. all other calls are to be connected or relayed to the supervisor on call.
last night, an officer called in and stated that he was 10-38. i had no idea what this was, so i asked him.
the reply?
"i have to poop."
i don't think i have ever had a grown man utter that phrase to me before, and i can't say i was feeling a huge void in my soul because of it, either.
last night, an officer called in and stated that he was 10-38. i had no idea what this was, so i asked him.
the reply?
"i have to poop."
i don't think i have ever had a grown man utter that phrase to me before, and i can't say i was feeling a huge void in my soul because of it, either.
he explained that there weren't any appropriate facilities where he was, and he figured he'd be gone for about 20 minutes or so and would call me back upon his return.
rather than make him wait while i dialed the supervisor, i wished him luck and hung up so as not to delay him any further.
the supervisor and i have a good rapport, and when i called him i apologized for bothering him and told him i'd gotten an unusual call and had to pass it along since it was not one of the usual 10-41/10-42 calls.
given the delicate nature of the situation, i simply told him that his officer had called in a 10-38.
"what the heck is a 10-38?"
well, since he asked......
"he has to...how to put this?....take a meeting in his private office."
there was a pause, and then, "oooohhhhhh. tmi."
"well, sir, it's less info than i got."
i told him about the 20-minute ETA and asked if it would be okay if, rather than notifying him of the officer's return, i simply called him if i hadn't heard back from the guy within, say, half an hour, so he could send a search and rescue party. he agreed that that sounded fine.
later, i was telling mama my story and, since she was the third person who'd never heard of a 10-38, she decided to do some research, as surely it did not directly translate to "has to poop".
apparently, some of these codes vary by region. the first translation she found was "stopped suspicious vehicle". this was topped by the charleston, sc translation (and my particular favorite)- "need jaws of life".* there was also a related code, though the exact number escapes me (10-39, maybe?)- "call the coroner".
finally, when i told her where the business was based, she looked up the codes for that city and found that 10-38 is code for "bathroom break". given that the supervisor had no idea what it was, i'm guessing either it's not one of the more commonly used ones, or else maybe he started his career in charleston and was trying to figure out just what had gone down, thinking maybe the officer had gotten his codes mixed up.
*if your situation's that bad, perhaps adding more fiber to your diet will help.
rather than make him wait while i dialed the supervisor, i wished him luck and hung up so as not to delay him any further.
the supervisor and i have a good rapport, and when i called him i apologized for bothering him and told him i'd gotten an unusual call and had to pass it along since it was not one of the usual 10-41/10-42 calls.
given the delicate nature of the situation, i simply told him that his officer had called in a 10-38.
"what the heck is a 10-38?"
well, since he asked......
"he has to...how to put this?....take a meeting in his private office."
there was a pause, and then, "oooohhhhhh. tmi."
"well, sir, it's less info than i got."
i told him about the 20-minute ETA and asked if it would be okay if, rather than notifying him of the officer's return, i simply called him if i hadn't heard back from the guy within, say, half an hour, so he could send a search and rescue party. he agreed that that sounded fine.
later, i was telling mama my story and, since she was the third person who'd never heard of a 10-38, she decided to do some research, as surely it did not directly translate to "has to poop".
apparently, some of these codes vary by region. the first translation she found was "stopped suspicious vehicle". this was topped by the charleston, sc translation (and my particular favorite)- "need jaws of life".* there was also a related code, though the exact number escapes me (10-39, maybe?)- "call the coroner".
finally, when i told her where the business was based, she looked up the codes for that city and found that 10-38 is code for "bathroom break". given that the supervisor had no idea what it was, i'm guessing either it's not one of the more commonly used ones, or else maybe he started his career in charleston and was trying to figure out just what had gone down, thinking maybe the officer had gotten his codes mixed up.
*if your situation's that bad, perhaps adding more fiber to your diet will help.
1 comment:
I'm wondering just how long he put off having to call in pinching a big ol grumpy! Must have gotten pretty bad for him! Gotta remember that call sign, I'll have to use it! :-)
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