I'm back! Not that I have anyone left reading this blog! My last post was 2013 so suffice it to say that anyone who may have been marginally interested in my ramblings here has gone on to bigger and better things! Anyway --- I thought of a funny story and this blog came to mind and I thought -- why not?
Back in 1981 I was a police cadet at the Odessa, Texas Police Department. I loved that job! One morning I woke up to the 5 am alarm with absolutely no voice. No warning, no pain, no coughing --- but definitely no voice. Since my job consisted of dealing with the public for a solid 8 - 9 hours on shift at the front desk there was no way for me to be effective at work. I could not answer calls, talk to those who walked in or communicate with the dispatchers who were relying on me get details on anything the police needed to tend to. The only thing to do was to call in sick, even though I felt perfectly fine. So I picked up the phone and called the front desk. Sgt. Tommey Morris, pictured below, answered the phone,
Sgt: "Odessa Police Department"
Me: (silently mouthing "hello, hello" in my loudest non-existent voice)
Sgt: "Hello? HELLO?"
CLICK as he hung up the phone
I called again -- I don't know why -- I just thought it was the thing to do.
Sgt: "Odessa Police Department"
Me: NOTHING -- NO SOUND would come
Sgt: "Look, this is a PO-LICE DEPARTMENT, not a place to prank call!"
CLICK as he hung up again
I silently (of course) took a shower, got dressed and drove to work. I walked in and saw Sgt. Morris there. He greeted me and started to tell me all that had been going on overnight. He finally noticed I was not responding and asked me "Cat got your tongue?" to which I mouthed the words "I have no voice". He did not understand me (I'm telling you I could not even whisper). He finally figured out I could not speak and said, "Why the heck did you come to work? You should have called in sick!"
EXACTLY.
