I knew poeple were stupid sometimes, but not this bad. It appears that as countless numbers of people get shiny new cell phones as Christmas presents, they decide to test it out… by calling 911!
Measuring her words as evenly as she can, Diane Chupinski, a 13-year veteran CHP dispatcher who now supervises other dispatchers in the Vallejo center, offers this: “I can say it is not clear to me why people think 911 needs to be tested. If you want to know if your phone works, call your friend and say, ‘Guess what I got for Christmas.’ “
Yeah, I’d be a little pissed off, too. In fact, I really hope that dispatch centers gear up for E-911 Phase II soon (like they already should have been), so that these little test calls transform from anonymous little hangups to actual traceable, locatable calls that they can put the smackdown on.
If your first call on your new cell phone is 911, the house had better be burning down or someone had better be dying. If not, then I’d say you’re also a prime candidate to do other stupid, rude things with your cell phone and aren’t competent to keep it.