Two days ago I was almost in a horrible wreck. I was stopped at the light at 41st and Sheridan facing east, and I was the first person in line. Next to me was a car waiting to turn left onto Sheridan. The light turned green, but before I had the chance to accelerate I saw a car driving very quickly south on Sheridan and I thought he was going to run his red light. He probably would have made it safely since people had only begun to inch forward, but I guess he saw the red light at the last minute and decided to try and turn right instead. He was going way too fast to make the turn, so he smashed into the car directly next to me, and both cars slid towards my car, stopping abruptly just three inches from my drivers side door. I was completely sure that I was going to be involved in the wreck when I saw it going on, but amazingly as I tightened up and prepared for impact nothing even shook my car at all. I couldn’t believe how close they were to my door as I looked out my window. My next thoughts went to the people in the cars. I was the closest person to these people so I wanted to make sure that they were alright. The two girls who got hit were already talking to each other and seemed fine, and the guy who hit them was cussing and starting to back up (don’t ask me why). I decided that I should just move into the closest parking lot and call the police, so I did that. I have never called 911 before. The first question they asked was “Fire, Police, or Medical?” I was thrown off by the question, because normally with wrecks you see all three come. I said, “Um… police I guess,” because I just wanted to give my witness statement. Ever since Jason got hit by a guy turning and no one could prove it wasn’t Jason’s fault I have wanted to be able to help someone else in a situation like that, even though in this wreck it was obvious who was at fault.
What happened next is actually why I wanted to write this post. I looked down at my phone after walking into Home Depot to buy some more paint, and it said “Emergency Calls Only”. I tried to get that go to away a couple different ways, and I ended up calling the police again on accident and hanging up. I figured they would call back and see if everything was alright, since they do that, but I turned off my phone and turned it back on and the words were gone. A few seconds later I got a phone call and a lady was on the other end asking if everything was ok because they had gotten an emergency call from this number. I said, “Yes, I had just finished…’ and was about to explain why I called when she interrupted me with “Alright thanks,” and hung up. (Take a moment to let the shock sink in). I couldn’t believe it. Just one little “yes” is enough for them to forget about you if you’re getting coached by a murderer or rapist to tell them everything is ok? PLUS, I was trying to continue to say something and could have been giving her hints to my location or what was happening to me, but she just didn’t care and hung up on me. I think that’s crazy. Do they get that many fake 911 calls that they are annoyed and don’t listen to people? That just blew my mind.
So, if you’re ever in a crazy situation and they call you and ask if you’re alright, I guess you have to say no.