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First Shift!
I’ve been looking forward to today! Genuinely!
When I look back to my first days in my professional life, I haven’t really looked forward to starting. Sure, I’ve been relieved to be off the job market, but the jobs I did were usually more or less the same as the job I did before. And as I’m learning through my job coach, the technical stuff I did back then wasn’t me; it was just something I (felt I) needed to do.
The animal ambulance is different – I really do want to help animals!
First task: getting my uniform. The uniform not only makes us recognisable to the public when we turn up but also offers protection, so I was promptly handed heavily oversized rugged trousers* with a gazillion pockets, a green T-shirt, a floppy jumper with a button hanging off and a hi-vis jacket. I was told later by colleagues that the bright yellow jacket often scares some animals away. It remains a good idea to wear it thogh; too many animals are injured through road traffic and I don’t want to be injured in the same way. Even rescuing animals, it’s personal safety first.
* I did ask if they had a smaller size, where in blunt Dutch fashion I was informed they “…are not a shop” (!)
Next up: getting loaded up with the paperwork – so much of it that it comes in a black plastic folder.
(I got the 5m measuring tape for Father’s Day. Might come in handy for my next contract…)
For those of you unfamiliar with how much the Dutch love red tape, you might be familiar with Douglas Adams’ Vogons from his The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. They will give you an idea of how much detail (and triplicate) is involved in Dutch paperwork. (And for those of you who have only seen the most recent movie and not listened to the original radio play, read the books or seen the TV series, I’m not talking about their love of poetry! 😉 )
Where are the animals in need?
The shift starts at 08:45. By well after 11:00 no-one had called in to report any animals in distress. We spent our time sorting through donated clothes, sifting out dirty or tatty items that can’t be resold, and bagging up the rest which we sell to raise a few euros to keep the 24/7 service running. The clothes are sold by the kilo – and there are a lot of kilos from a lot of kind donors and we’re very thankful for them! At the same time, I was saddened when I learned how little the pittance is that is made from the sale.
It’s nearly time to go home, and the crew from the next shift were expected soon to replace us. Then our first call of the day came in – an injured cat hiding in some council bushes. The centralist – the person who takes the phone calls, gives advice and decides which team takes the call-out – gave the rescue to the team I was in so that I’d at least see something today – and I was very grateful to her for that!
I expected something like how I see the fire brigade act on TV when they get a call – an immediate call to action! Coffees down, his-vis jackets on, legging it to the ambulance and charging off to the rescue!
It wasn’t quite like that…
