Oddly, my mom must not have been home at the time. She probably ran out to the local supermarket for a quart of milk or something. I clearly recall kneeling on the couch cushions, chest pressed against the back of the couch, peering out the living room window. My eyes widened as I went into a panic.
My dad and his student or friend were yelling as flames were shooting from the hood of the 1960s vehicle they were repairing. Much like a nightmare, I felt paralyzed at age four or five. I kept yelling, "FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!" But nobody was around to hear me. Quickly I ran for the phone. I remembered learning somewhere about the importance of dialing 9-1-1 when there is an emergency and all about STOP, DROP and ROLL.
What I didn't know about was how to properly make a phone call. With the handset positioned on the phone, I dialed that slow-ass '70s rotary phone as fast as my little fingers would let me, 9-1-1. Over and over again. Now if only I had picked up the receiver/earpiece, listened to a dial tone and then dialed those three easy digits. Luckily, Dad and his friend had the flames under control and everything was fine. I probably would have gotten in more trouble with my folks if that call had actually gone through. Ha ha!
You will be happy to know that today I understand the proper steps in making a 911 call.
21 comments:
Was it a rotary phone or push button? That is pretty funny.
Cheese, thanks for catching that typo! I fixed it, it was a rotary phone!
FUNNY! Glad everyone was ok.
Pretty scary for a little kid!
That must have been so scary for you! My brother still has an old pay phone that is a rotary dial in his house. This brings back memories. :D
Way to go. Ally! You may not have actually succeeded in your attempt to help. but you knew what to do, and you did it the best of your ability. Your folks raised you well!
That's hilarious, thank the lord you learned at a later age and can properly do it now if you ever find yourself in a similar situation. ;)
i can't believe you didn't stop, drop and roll! this was a hilarious story, glad nothing else caught fire besides the car. :)
Hee hee cute story!
That's hysterical. Great story.
Funny, I bet a lot of the younger folks reading this have never used a rotary phone.
Damn those rotary phones. If you had push button intercom phone back then I bet you would've saved the day (or gotten into more trouble like you said.) Stop, drop and roll, classic!!!
LMAO!! how funny!!
Great point about the rotary dial! Now it's so far in the opposite direction! My husband's cell is company provided, and it has a password to it. My phone needs to slide to open. We've talked about how to teach a 4 year old to handle this type of thing because it's not as easy as it was - say - 10 years ago.
At least you lived to tell the tale, and i am sure your father would have been proud that his daughter was so foward thinking at such a young age. Thank you for sharing
it's probably easier now that you don't have to dial a rotary phone.
You know what's sad? My kids have no CLUE as to what a rotary phone is! When they had to have their eyes checked when they were little, that was the only picture they failed on. Made me cringe (or was it the fact that they missed something on that eye TEST?)! Glad everything worked out for the best! ;-)
My daughter asked me what a rotary phone was the other day
I have forgotten how to use a rotary phone. They are kind of scary in their slowness.
Very funny!
My wife got a call from emergency services the other day. They wanted to know why she was calling and hanging up....
My 4 year old son was playing with the phone.... lol
that phone reminds me of my nana...
and yes, i totally remember stop drop and roll
lol
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