As you read these wacky stories, please keep in mind that 911 is for life-threatening emergency situations. Not because, say, you’re thirsty and you’d like someone to bring you a glass of water.
The drunk guy who wouldn’t stop calling
A former 911 operator, Ricardo Martinez II is the host and creator of the podcast “Within the Trenches—True Stories from 9-1-1 Dispatchers.”
This particular story reveals how “super-human patience” is one of the unwritten job requirements for a 911 operator: “It was around two in the morning on a relatively quiet night when a man—obviously inebriated—called to demand a breathalyzer test.
Apparently, he’d been kicked out of a bar, and he was outraged because he was certain he wasn’t legally drunk and wanted to prove it.” When Martinez declined, explaining to the guy this wasn’t an emergency, the man not only became verbally abusive, he also kept calling. And calling. And calling—until Martinez finally dispatched a trooper to arrest the guy for misuse of 911
