Work in the holidays has been something of a tradition of mine over the past few years.

I don't have family that I need to run home to.

The pay is really not that bad, all things considered.

Plus best of all, typically most people don't call us this time of year, I'm sure.

There's the occasional drunk driver or something, but the most part we have a small office

party we chill without too much stress.

This year I didn't anticipate much to be different.

There are about six of us handling incoming calls on Christmas Eve, and it looked like

cold weather would be hitting the areas soon, so we did anticipate a few calls from stranded

motorists, maybe the occasional ice slide or something like that.

Marty, our shift manager, bought us all Domino's pizza and Coca-Cola.

I popped on my headset, waited for the calls to come in.

First few hours were mundane, just as I expected.

I got a bore you with the details.

I skipped forward to about 1500 in the evening.

This call came in about that time.

I remember because I had just come back from break.

There are only five of us left, I think.

Something I had to drive for a while and the weather was getting worse, the calls began

to increase.

Then I pick up the receiver, I talk to an old lady, probably in her late 90s.

I'm just saying, you know, that that to be fair.

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