Having to dial 911 in an actual emergency was the most harrowing experience ever. Waiting for the 9 to spin down made you feel like your heart would explode. Even worse if you jumped the gun on the following 1 and had to start over. Or you could dial the operator with a single 0, but that was a risky move in the late 80’s/early 90’s when operator services were being wound down.
Having to dial 911 in an actual emergency was the most harrowing experience ever. Waiting for the 9 to spin down made you feel like your heart would explode. Even worse if you jumped the gun on the following 1 and had to start over. Or you could dial the operator with a single 0, but that was a risky move in the late 80’s/early 90’s when operator services were being wound down.
And towards the end there, operators went from super helpful to kind of mean
Kind of mean may have been relative to the area. In my major metropolitan area, some of them were veritable assholes.