Calling out DOT

The consolidation of the three dispatch centers was hard on all of us. Things had to change, and change is hard. Prior to the consolidation one of our minor pet peeves at the state center was receiving calls from our sister center in Ogden asking us to call DOT for traffic lights that had burned out (this was in the days before LEDs). DOT didn’t really pay into our budget, and any interaction with them seemed ancillary to our association with the Highway Patrol. In spite of this, when a traffic light went out in Ogden, they would call us to call out D* L* - the DOT traffic light guy. It seemed like as the middlemen in this process our phone call could be eliminated, but rather than protest vocally, we just made the call. 


The consolidation happened in phases. Initially we just moved Ogden and Weber into the same room but remained functioning as semi-independent centers. We kept our same phone numbers, and tried to answer our own calls. Very quickly everything melded into one pot of never-ending phone calls in spite of those initial attempts at keeping them separate. 


So working as a calltaker, I was surprised one day to receive a call from “K* with Ogden.” K* with Ogden was working across the room from me even as we were speaking. Confused, I stood up and looked at her. 


“Yeah – this is K* from Ogden, and I need you to call out DOT for a stop light that is out.” 


“Okay . . .” I answered kind of confused. 


I thought maybe she was playing some type of joke on me, but she seemed very serious. I was now positive I was talking to the same K* sitting just a few feet away from me, because I could hear her through the phone ear and the ambient area ear. 


K* kept explaining which light was out (northbound 22nd street – left side red), and I continued to listen while still standing and watching her. At last I caught her eye. 


 “Oh, Crap!” she said. 


“I hate this consolidation!” 


 So do I – so do I.