Friday, March 6, 2015

Shadows of My Dad

Today I cried at work.

I hadn't cried at work since my dad passed away in July of 2013.

See, this man called me at work. He was one of our clients and he speaks only Spanish. He is a trucker and was involved in an accident.  He was calling me because he didn't know if he should report it to the police. I asked him what exactly happened.

He said he was driving along, minding his own business, just putting in another day at work when a tire came off of a car. I don't know if the tire actually came off the wheel or if it fell from the bed of a truck...I don't know all the details, he just said a tire came off the other vehicle and rolled underneath his truck-tractor causing quite a bit of damage to his truck.

He said he was there with the other party and the other party didn't want to call the police. I told him to call the police. He said the other party wouldn't let him and said he thought there was something fishy about the other party, like maybe he was on drugs or something. The other party didn't speak Spanish and my client didn't speak English very well so it was also a communication issue.

My client asked me to call the highway patrol for him. I told him he had to call and he said, “You don’t understand, I can’t call, he won’t let me, he’s watching every number I dial, and I’m on Hwy 58 and” …and then he stopped talking. So I asked him if he wanted me to conference the CHP in and nothing, I could hear talking but he wasn’t talking to me and then the phone call dropped.

So what do I do? I’m imagining all kinds of horrible things; the other party has a gun to his head, or stabbed him, or ran him over with his car or took him hostage! These things can and do happen all the time.

So I called 911 and they transferred me to the CHP and I spoke to someone there and explained what had happened and she pretty much said “Yeah and what do you want me to do about it?” I was stunned! “Ummm, I want you to help him!” She said the driver has to call them and report this, I said “But the other party WON’T LET HIM!” She wanted to know if I knew where he was, what road, what highway? I told her I didn't, but thanks to caller ID I have his name and phone number and you guys can call him and she said no they can’t. That is not what they do, the driver has to call in and report it himself and I told her “So he could be getting murdered right now and you can’t do anything?” She said no, there is nothing we can do.

She told me to call him back and tell him to call them. I told her “Thanks for nothing”, hung up and called the insured and he didn't answer. I called the insured a couple more times throughout the day and no answer; I left him a voice mail and no response! I still don’t know what happened.


I told a co-worker about it and she said, “Oh well it was up to him to call the CHP, not to call you, what are you supposed to do? You did more than I would have done, I wouldn't even have called the CHP like you did.” I told her that I thought of my dad and how when he first came to this country he didn't understand English well, let alone speak it and in memory of my dad I try to help people that have language issues like that so that no one will take advantage of them, and then I told her I had to go before I started crying and then I cried. I miss my daddy.


   

10 comments:

  1. Wow! Quite a story. So if someone is assaulting me and you are a witness the best you can do is hand me your phone while I am getting beat up and I have to request the police to intervene. Amazing!

    I hope you don't read about this poor guy in the paper.

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    1. I've been checking online. He never called me back and I don't want to call him again as obviously if he's hurt he has bigger fish to fry then me and if he's dead he's not going to answer and if he's avoiding me then I don't want it to seem like harassment, so there you go!

      But yeah, basically if you are being assaulted you better figure out a way to call authorities on your own! I guess I wasn't technically a witness. If I had been there at the scene they probably would have responded. I think I just got a bad apple!

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  2. Ugh my parents never learned english either and they got taken advantage of sometimes. I understand how you feel and hope he is ok too. Hopefully someone driving by called the cops anyway.

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    1. My dad eventually learned enough English to get him by and actually became a US Citizen and he was very proud of that, but I remember the stories he would tell me and the things that would happen to him just because he didn't understand. I hope the guy either called the CHP himself or someone did stop and help him.

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  3. Wow, that is incredulous. I am so proud of you for going beyond your call of duty. I would have done the same thing. I hope the man calls you back so you will know he is all right. I'm sure you will be thinking about him constantly, worrying about what happened. The police can be so insensitive and lazy.

    I have a feeling that your dad was standing right next to you beaming with pride. Hugs!!!!!!!

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    1. Thanks JarieLyn, I can picture my dad right now standing next to me and telling God, "that one is mine" :)

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  4. What happened to helping each other? People complain about the lack of civility these days and it is because of people who answered your 911 call. What if it had been their kid? Or someone whose cell phone had died? So much of what is wrong with our world is illustrated by your story! Hope three is a positively ending to the story!

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    1. Thanks Heidi, I agree with you and I often look at things the way you describe. What if that were my mom or dad or kid or sister or friend. I was very surprised by the 911 CHP woman, she was actually down right rude and I know they record those calls, you would think they would monitor her and perhaps teach her to have some people skills.

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  5. Your post reminds me that Microsoft and Google are working on breaking the language barrier.
    Microsoft's Skype calling service has already launched simultaneous translation between English and Spanish speakers, so each caller can speak in his native language and have the speech immediately translated to the listener. Everything is possible in this highly technological era.

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    1. That would make like so much happier and easier for many people. I know that part of the reason that I have always held such good jobs is because I can speak both English and Spanish fluently. In California it's even more vital that employees can speak both. But it's a double edged sword as it's created more work for me instead. I have to do my work and then I have to help a non-bilingual co-worker do her work when needed to translate but I still have to do my work and that co-worker is not expected to reciprocate as well. It's just the nature of the beast in business, but it still doesn't stop me from trying to help people who only speak Spanish when necessary.

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