The story ends in an unexpected way
(don't worry...my dad is okay)

Yesterday afternoon, my mother phoned my cel phone. She has done that several times this week. Each time, I've answered and heard her talking to my dad in the background. "He must be in a meeting..." Apparently, she has no patience. I usually answer on the third ring. Or maybe she doesn't really want to talk to me, and my assumption about her patience is tragically incorrect. It doesn't matter. She has phoned several times this week while I was at work. One of the times, she was phoning to tell me that Purdy's hadn't yet marked down their Easter chocolate. Tragedy.

Yesterday afternoon, she phoned to tell me that my dad had had chest/side/back pains earlier in the day. They had gone to their gp, who miracuously (sp?) had an opening. They had rushed down to make the appointment. The doctor had seen him and ordered a few tests. She was phoning to let me know that they might be stuck at the hospital getting tested, would I be able to let out the dog, who was due to pee (like clockwork) at 4:30. He, the dog, is well-trained in only that one area: peeing. Everything else is an adorable free-for-all.

They arrived soon after I let the dog out, which made for a very happy dog. He likes greeting people, especially people he knows. And if it's the people who feed him, that's even better. He peed quickly.

As soon as my dad got into the house, he decided to go back out and get his prescriptions filled. He obligingly took the cell phone with him even though he always "forgets". If he doesn't have the phone with him, my mother can't phone him and extend his errands. I'm not saying that he does it on purpose, but it does seem mighty convenient.

When he got back from Save-On, he said that the strangest thing had happened. He was just getting back into the car when the cell rang. He answered, and the woman on the other end said "You just phoned 911." It wasn't a question. It was a statement. He said that he hadn't. He was already slightly angry because, once again, his doctor had prescribed a new medication that isn't covered by their medical plan. This happens too often, and both of my parents are retired. They're paying for their own medical, so it would be really nice if the doctor stuck with what is covered. So when he got this phone call, he was probably already a little upset. Then someone phones him and says that he phoned 911. "Don't give me any attitude" the woman on the other end said, "I want some information." Thinking that this was a scam, he said again that he hadn't phoned her, told her that she wasn't getting any info, and hung up. I think that's a reasonable thing to do considering the circumstances.

He came home and told the story. We all agreed that it sounded like a scam.

Two hours later, when I looked out front and saw the two police cars pull up across the street, I had completely forgotten this incident (or my brain had checked out for the evening). Knowing that the front gate was locked, and seeing that they had walked across the road and were trying to figure out how to open it, I went downstairs and told my dad. I figured that they would find a way in if they really wanted to get in. But he had to go find out, so he went out into the cold and rain to find out what they wanted.

I went upstairs to tell my mother and to pick up my digital recorder just in case. You never know. There have been some tasings. By the time I got back downstairs, he was headed back to the house and the cops pulled away. He came in to get the keys to the gate locks, unlocked the gates, and came back with a cop. I could tell that my dad was really agitated. Great. So the cop came in and started explaining that they got the call from dispatch that there was a 911 call from the cell phone and that they have to come and investigate. My dad started again explaining that he hadn't made the call. The cop cut him off and said that the phone call had been made, "that was a fact". So I said that we couldn't understand how that would happen while he was in the line at Save-On, with the phone in his pocket. How could he have accidentally dialed 9+1+1+Send? I understand that they have to follow up on the 911 call, but I still don't understand how the call got placed. I wondered if there was a mistake. The cop argued with me. I still don't understand how the call could have been made. I went through the phone book on the cell phone. 911 isn't in it. And it's an old phone. It doesn't have the "press and hold a button and it will dial" kind of feature.

Anyhow, there was arguing back and forth, and the cop gave us his card and told us to follow up with "dispatch" today to find out what happened. He took my dad's driver's license, wrote some stuff down, and left.

After he had left, my dad told us that when he was outside talking to the cops, he had told the cops that he hadn't dialled the phone. The cops had argued that the call had been made and that they had to follow up. He was talking to them over the fence and they threatened to cuff him and arrest him if he continued to be difficult. He then told them that he'd let them in so they could check, but he had to go back to the house to get a key. They didn't want him to leave. Again, he was being difficult. Which, he probably was, because he didn't make the damn call in the first place.

We still don't know what happened. The 911 operator called him on the cell, which means that the cell was "hung up". If he had accidentally made the call to 911, wouldn't it still be connected? I will admit (though he won't) that my dad probably should have just let the cops in when they came here to check things out. I totally understand that that is "procedure". But I still want to figure out how it happened in the first place? Did my dad accidentally dial the phone? Did the old phone somehow spontaeously dial 911? Did the 911 operator misdial and reach my parent's cell phone instead of the original caller? We hope to find out. I do NOT want this to happen again.