911, Faith, Education and A Wolf

This morning I hear this news:

Woman Dies In Fire As 911 Malfunctions - Local News Story - WCAU | Philadelphia

The other day, I heard this news: Hay Baler Injures Plant City Man

Regarding the woman, the media reports that the woman was put on hold and there was a 41 second delay. I will assume that upon hearing that the woman was smoking in bed, some will say she had it coming. The fact that she was disabled may also make it easy for some people to rationalize the tragedy. The fact remains that the woman had faith that dialing 911 was her best choice.

Regarding the Plant City man, I was told there was a delay in the first 911 response because the first intake person did not know what a baler was. The call was done by the man whose head was caught in the baler. I imagine in a time of thinking death is going to happen any second, one might not think clearly enough to come up for another word for a piece of equipment that is common knowledge to those who work with it every day, no matter how well trained they are. He is a retired Tampa Fire Rescue Captain. Since the other man was in front of the tractor, he didn't know what had happened for a few seconds. This other man's 911 call instructed the intake person as to the exact, specific rescue equipment needed. I was told that this intake worker did not have faith that the caller was competent to make those decisions, despite being told that this second caller himself was a Tampa Fire Rescue Employee. The second caller was the son of the man caught in the baler. The son was finally able to get to a person that could speak his professional language. In the end, the needed response happened. I have been to see the man that was trapped. He is my brother-in-law. I assume the term farmer will be used as a rationalization for this near tragic event.

There is much discussion within the Florida education system about Evolution and Creationism. I learned a long time ago, when people are arguing either the obvious or something that doesn’t make sense, there is a hidden agenda on at least one side, and maybe both. My best first stab at it, giving up major considerations, is I don't understand why someone wants to mix natural science and social science. One major consideration is defining creationism within the context of science. There is one thing that can be said about Evolutionist and Creationist and that is they both have faith. They have faith that they are right.

My fear is that this ongoing argument is more about attacks and defense of one’s faith than it is about science. As time goes on, the integrity of each sides faith will be weakened or destroyed. Just as the little boy who cried wolf, eventually few will have faith about the systems and people that are involved in this dispute.

""Even when liars tell the truth, they are never believed. The liar will lie once, twice, and then perish when he tells the truth.""


The more 911 callers and 911 operators act in a manner that each side loses faith, the system will fail. The more public education systems and those who interact with it act in a manner that each side loses faith, it will fail. As was astutely pointed out by a board member at a recent board meeting.

Just like all of the other outside factors that effect what goes on inside a classroom, I think the discussion should be more about what is driving the need for the conflict.