gon2seed
(and me! - Ed)
One of the things I dread is an unexpected call from home when I am at work. It is all the more unusual in the fire service because our loved ones know it's often difficult to get hold of us during a shift, so a text is the usual way of communicating. In short an annoucement over the tannoy that you have a phone call from home, usually preceeds some form of emergencty at home, minor or otherwise.
I used to work at Burton on Trent, and one of my colleagues had such a call; lets call him Sam. I took the call from Sam's wife during a night shift, "could I talk to Sam please?" I sought out Sam, "your wife is on the phone Sam". Straight away he looked concerned, "Not like her to ring on nights" he said.
He took the call in the office, and I was keen to see what it was about when he came out. It wasn't the same fella that emerged from the office! Sam was paler than that red haired actress off Desperate Housewives.
Sam burbled out the tale!
For the last few weeks Sam's 3 yr old had been regaling the household with tales of the multicoloured snake that visited him in his bedroom! Of course they humoured him and played along! They lived in a semi in the middle of town for God's sake, and it was the middle of winter.
Well this particular night they realised the lads imagination wasn't as florid as they thought. Mrs Sam had gone into the bedroom and noticed a multicoloured rubber snake wrapped around the lamp cable! .... then it moved! About 2ft long and definitely alive.
"Right" said the Sub Officer, "get yourself off home don't worry about us we'll cover".
"You don't understand, I have an extreme snake phobia"
"Don't talk Bollox man, get off home, its your wife and kids, go now"
"I can't, I won't be able to even go in the house, I'll be useless, they have evacuated to my in-laws and they are going to phone the RSPCA"
Sam stayed with us and carried on a constant dialogue over the phone. The RSPCA identified the snake from the description, probably a banded corn snake, native to North America. They were pretty sure it wouldn't be venemous, but they couldn't get an officer to them that night.
Sam's father-in-law became the hero, armed with a pond net he captured the reptile which conveniently remained in its original spot. He put the serpent in a large lidded plastic box, but as he was a caring bloke and didn't want to suffocate the the beastie, he didn't make the lid air tight, and quarentined the snake in the shed.
Sam's colour returned, he perked up, RSPCA would collect the snake before he got home from work, job done.
At 23.30 hrs station phone rang! Sam's dad had checked the snake because he was concerned about the temperature, it was now christened Houdini!
Sam had a relapse, "I can't go home if its still loose he confessed" and he meant it!
Luckily I had had a bit of experience with escaped snakes when I worked at Throxenby Family Centre (home for naughty boys, don't ask). What you do is shine a lamp close to the floor in the middle of the room in which the snake escaped. If it is cold the snake will not have gone far, and will bask under the lamp, as its natural habit, and if you are quick you can nab it.
Worked like a charm, Houdini was recaptured, and secured properly, and Sam could relax, but he didn't. I only really appreciated how extreme a phobia can be that night, and Sam hadn't even seen the thing in the flesh!
Sam turned detective next day, They had moved in three months previously, so he inroduced himself to the neighbours he hadn't met by asking them if they had lost a snake. Total blank!
Sam didn't have the phone number of previous owners of his house, but they did live conveniently close, so he popped round.
"Yes, we lost a snake in the house a month before you moved in," said Mr Smith "But we didn't think it would concern you so we didn't tell you"
It took Sam about a week to get the bits of teeth out of his fist.
About 12 months later we got called to a house fire and had to rescue two pythons. Sam stayed on the Fire Engine!
I used to work at Burton on Trent, and one of my colleagues had such a call; lets call him Sam. I took the call from Sam's wife during a night shift, "could I talk to Sam please?" I sought out Sam, "your wife is on the phone Sam". Straight away he looked concerned, "Not like her to ring on nights" he said.
He took the call in the office, and I was keen to see what it was about when he came out. It wasn't the same fella that emerged from the office! Sam was paler than that red haired actress off Desperate Housewives.
Sam burbled out the tale!
For the last few weeks Sam's 3 yr old had been regaling the household with tales of the multicoloured snake that visited him in his bedroom! Of course they humoured him and played along! They lived in a semi in the middle of town for God's sake, and it was the middle of winter.
Well this particular night they realised the lads imagination wasn't as florid as they thought. Mrs Sam had gone into the bedroom and noticed a multicoloured rubber snake wrapped around the lamp cable! .... then it moved! About 2ft long and definitely alive.
"Right" said the Sub Officer, "get yourself off home don't worry about us we'll cover".
"You don't understand, I have an extreme snake phobia"
"Don't talk Bollox man, get off home, its your wife and kids, go now"
"I can't, I won't be able to even go in the house, I'll be useless, they have evacuated to my in-laws and they are going to phone the RSPCA"
Sam stayed with us and carried on a constant dialogue over the phone. The RSPCA identified the snake from the description, probably a banded corn snake, native to North America. They were pretty sure it wouldn't be venemous, but they couldn't get an officer to them that night.
Sam's father-in-law became the hero, armed with a pond net he captured the reptile which conveniently remained in its original spot. He put the serpent in a large lidded plastic box, but as he was a caring bloke and didn't want to suffocate the the beastie, he didn't make the lid air tight, and quarentined the snake in the shed.
Sam's colour returned, he perked up, RSPCA would collect the snake before he got home from work, job done.
At 23.30 hrs station phone rang! Sam's dad had checked the snake because he was concerned about the temperature, it was now christened Houdini!
Sam had a relapse, "I can't go home if its still loose he confessed" and he meant it!
Luckily I had had a bit of experience with escaped snakes when I worked at Throxenby Family Centre (home for naughty boys, don't ask). What you do is shine a lamp close to the floor in the middle of the room in which the snake escaped. If it is cold the snake will not have gone far, and will bask under the lamp, as its natural habit, and if you are quick you can nab it.
Worked like a charm, Houdini was recaptured, and secured properly, and Sam could relax, but he didn't. I only really appreciated how extreme a phobia can be that night, and Sam hadn't even seen the thing in the flesh!
Sam turned detective next day, They had moved in three months previously, so he inroduced himself to the neighbours he hadn't met by asking them if they had lost a snake. Total blank!
Sam didn't have the phone number of previous owners of his house, but they did live conveniently close, so he popped round.
"Yes, we lost a snake in the house a month before you moved in," said Mr Smith "But we didn't think it would concern you so we didn't tell you"
It took Sam about a week to get the bits of teeth out of his fist.
About 12 months later we got called to a house fire and had to rescue two pythons. Sam stayed on the Fire Engine!
