One of Those Days: A Paramedic's Lament
by
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~~From the desk of Jennifer L. DeSoto, FF/PM, LACoFD~~
November 1, 1999
(Desk? What desk? I'm at the station! Oh, well...)
To my dearest brother...
Aw, Chris, forgive me. It's been a long day. How ya been? Okay, now lemme tell you about my day. :)
Another day, another dollar...another chance to let the whole world drive you insane.
That's how I feel today, at least. As I said, it's been a very, very long day...another one of "those" days--you know the kind. Running around LA, saving stupid people from themselves. I swear, if I have to help one more person get out of one more doggie door, I'll scream...and I'm usually a rather relaxed kinda girl. Yeah, right, like you didn't know that already. I know where I get it from--just look at the family. Now, Daddy...if he were any more mellow, he'd be dead. And you know it's true.
I suppose that's why my partner tends to be so much more uptight then...fate's way of balancing us out. I can calm her down and she can perk me up...or something like that. I don't know. I just know that after a long day of rescuing John and Jane Q. Stupid, the public, Liz is the one I can rant at for a few minutes. Or longer, if need be. Am I the only one who's reminded of Johnny just by being around her...? Weird, huh? Well, this day's already brought me to the edges of the Twilight Zone, why not just let it take me the rest of the way?
Liz has got her own way of handling things. At the moment, I think she's on the computer, using that Sim City thing to blow up Los Angeles. I also think Mike and Gary (the other paramedics on this shift) are helping her. They've had just as bad a day as we have.
Oddly enough, I find this comforting.
Johnny understands, too...he used to be where we are now. Now he's running the shift. I know he misses being a paramedic a lot of times...but I can tell that this is one of those days that he's glad he isn't the one dealing with this stuff. At this exact moment, I find myself envying him. And I think he knows that, because he's giving me that smug little grin of his right now.
Don't get me wrong, Chris. I adore my job. Really, I do. It's just days like this that make it hard. But these days are better than the days when we lose a patient despite our best efforts--and it does happen...so I suppose I should just count my blessings.
Hopefully, we'll have an uneventful night. In LA, that's probably too much to ask--too many people and not enough paramedics for all of them. I hear that's a problem in any city. But this is my city, if you'll forgive my sentimentality for a moment. I was born here (as you well know, but let's not split hairs), I grew up here (indulge me, Christopher), and I'm going to protect the people here as best I can. Like you do in NYC, only with the police. Believe me, I think that's awesome. You do what you love, I do what I love. Accomplishing the same thing (basically) through different means.
I just hope that protecting these people doesn't include a 2-A.M. run to get someone's hand out of a sewer drain, is all.
Send Emily and the kids my love!
Love always,
Jen
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"Paranormal...paramedic...you don't think there's any relation, do you?"
"With the runs we've had today, can anyone be sure?"
--conversation I overheard between two paramedics the other day
Author's note: Why, you ask, is Chris DeSoto working with the NYPD in my lovely little vision of the "future"? (Well, a few people have asked me.) Um...the real reason? I felt like it. <G> Seemed like a good idea when I had it...
