I'm excited to welcome a brand new guest blogger today. One with an awesome job. A job I'm certainly not cut out for, but I have a ton of respect for those that do. But, why don't I let her tell you about it.
My other job
Someone is breaking into my house.
I think she's dead.
I can't tell if he's breathing.
I need police, hurry, but I don't know where I am.
I've heard all of this, and then some, in my ten years as a
911 operator and police dispatcher. I've talked to distraught mothers and
fathers, grown men that sob into the phone, scared children. I've also talked
to numerous liars, criminals, mentally ill, and a few murderers. I am that disembodied voice that you call for
help, then forget about by the time the police, or maybe a fireman or ambulance
come to your rescue. We are not remembered - destined to be called upon and then fade
into the background.
They call us the thin gold line. It's a rare breed that can
do this job and stick with it. It's said that less than two percent of the
population can handle it. The turnover rate is astronomical. Honestly, I think
you have to be just a touch crazy to want to do it, and even more so to be good
at it. I can't tell you how many police officers I know that have stepped into
my dispatch center and told me, "I don't know how you do this."
Those of us that do this, we do it because it's who we are.
We love it. We're OK with being forgotten, yelled at, cussed out by strangers
on a daily basis because they're just having a bad day. We all know that it's
not about us, so we take the abuse and keep smiling. Why? Because we
helped.
There's no glory for us dispatchers. We don't need it. Just
give us a Thank you from time to time and that's all we need. Glad to help. OK
with being forgotten, as long as we were able to help you in your time of need.
I've been asked once or twice, how does doing this job help
you in your writing? I've always been a writer, since I was a child. I suppose
being submerged in such a wide range of human emotion on a daily basis gives me
an insight that most people don't have. Like any other dispatcher, I have an ability
to insert myself into the mind without losing my own in the process. This is
the reason I can capture these feelings so well.
So what's my book about? It's book one in a series about good
friends falling in love. In book one, Adrienne
Lawrence trips over her own big mouth when she lies to her mother about having
a boyfriend when her mom's nasty comments about not having a date for a family
wedding get to her. Thank heavens for
her close friend Clint. He steps in, agreeing to play the part of the devoted
boyfriend at a week long venue wedding, saving her from embarrassment. After days
of pretend kisses and smoldering looks, the lines between what's pretend and what's real start to blur, and Adrienne
has to fight her confusing feelings. The last thing she wants is to lose her
friend, or become one of the women he leaves behind.
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| Author and Dispatcher Rachael Tamayo |
My name is Rachael Tamayo and I work for an agency in the
Houston, Texas area. I'm also a wife and
mother, and a writer. My first book is in pre-publication with solstice
publishing.
Please follow me on Facebook here https://m.facebook.com/Rachael-Tamayo-1600504033593522/
and
Twitter here: https://twitter.com/rtamayo2004
For updated information regarding the release of my first book,
Chase Me (title pending approval) book 1 in the Friend Zone series. Check me out on the Web at http://www.rachaeltamayowrites.com
Thanks, Rachael for doing such an amazing job and being for guest blogging today. Be sure you check out her page and watch for her new release. I know I can't wait to read it. :)
