Something went down on our street maybe 4 or 5 years ago that's still got me shaking my head. Thankfully, no one was arrested or killed. A neighbor lady fell down in her house and dislocated her shoulder. Her husband was in Iraq but her best friend was there and she called the ambulance. First vehicle on the scene was a full sized fire engine which sat there with lights flashing and engine running for at least half an hour. The ambulance arrived and the team went in the house and did their thing. Next a very tricked out Chevy Suburban pulled up, the EMS Supervisor, who probably had enough comm gear on board to make the military envious. Then came a police car, followed soon by another police car marked "supervisor". So now we've got five emergency vehicles on our cul-de-sac, lighting up the sky with red and blue and making enough fumes for an air quality alert. You would have thought the Manson Family was in town.
A bunch of us were out on the street and we got to talking. Someone said they always roll a fire truck to keep the crew sharp, and because they might have some equipment on board that the ambulance guys decide they need. EMS supervisor was there to make sure everything was done right, to protect the county from a lawsuit. The cop got called in case it was really a domestic violence situation, and again, this takes a supervisor to make sure the case is handled properly. In other words, the lawyers did it. Now, this is an affluent suburb of Washington DC, in fact one of the richest counties in America. That's right, this is where they drag your tax dollars. That doesn't stop them from sticking us up for thousands in real estate taxes and then bellyaching about how we're neglecting the schools. I just wonder, does anyone else live in a place that flushes money down the toilet this fast?
