One thirty AM:
Doc: "…ungh…hello?"
Anonymous caller: "Say, I was just watching my dog and…"
Doc: "What, you don’t have cable? Neighbors pulled the blinds? You’re stoned? What?"
AC: "What? Uh, anyway, I was just watching my dog and I noticed that he is passing a lot of blood. Is that normal?"
Doc: "Absolutely, completely, perfectly normal. Nothing to worry about. Thanks for calling."
The words in blue were never uttered. The rest of it is factual. Not only is it factual, it’s happened more than once. A lot more.
The cool thing about writing a blog is that you can proof-read and edit it. Wouldn’t it be nice if life were that way? You know that if you recorded everything you planned to say and then listened to it a couple of times, you might edit it. If that guy thought his dog passing blood were normal, he wouldn’t have called in the first place. It’s not like he isn’t thinking at all, though. After waiting until after midnight to get worried, he had the presence of mind to block his caller I.D. Of course, I don’t have the time or energy to be looking for people to call THEM back in the middle of the night. "Hey, I was concerned about ol’ Blue. Is he still passing blood?"
There are certainly bona fide emergencies that cannot be predicted or prevented. Sometimes things just happen and you need help right now. It can be a little tough on a solo act (i.e. me) who is the day guy and the night guy. All I ask is that if you’re going to get really worried about something that’s been going on all day, how about getting worried before, say, ten o’clock?