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This one is for Virgil:

Since the reprimand meeting a chastised second shift dispatch team goes about it business renewed and humbled and things settle back into their normal modes.

I'm watching Greene county this night and it has not been busy in spite of rain and a small bit of sleet.

At 7 pm our call takers go home and our new owners take over from one of their own call centers --mostly from Blue Ash Ky center and some calls come from from Hartford CT--those are the ones to be wary of.

Now I one station that runs Xenia OH with a driver that whose attitude and comments make me sound lkike a gentle choir boy. He and I clash about every two to three months and he is often reported by mmebers and other dispatchers for being cantankerous and rude. I dislike having to lower myself to that level--in 20 years I doubt I have done that more then five times certainly no less then three.

Travis left at 7 pm as well and Team Chief and partner Tonya was on a break when two calls for Xenia came in back to back.

One was a simple jump start at a Speedway gas station and the other was to make for a tense ten minutes ahead of us.

All AAA members receive four calls a year on their membership which can be any combination of tows, winch outs, fuel delivery, jump starts, lock outs and tire changes--for the most part. Should they need a fifth call there is a $50 charge for going out and all miles to be paid for in case of towing. The member is advised of this in advance. The problem call was to be a tire change near Wilberforce University north of Xenia in Wilberforce OH.

I made two critical mistakes.

Mistake one: I call the driver while still looking the tickets over. The jump start is clear cut but there are problems with the tire change ticket. I make the mistake of telling the driver the tire change is a $50 charge as it clearly shows four calls used. The mistake is I didn't doublecheck to see if the charges were being waived and an extra call granted.

They weren't waived. The hook is about to be taken out of my back and I congratulating myself on a narrrow escape when I discover my second blunder.

The charges SHOULD be waived. The member had bene with us since 1988 and rarely used the service. A fifth call under regualr service would be almost a moral obligation to the member in return for all that loyalty to us. The call taker just went by the script--as they are told to--and di not consider this aspect of the relationship between AAA and long time members. The reverse happened the other night with a fellow getting a SIXTH call (per a supervisior which was documented) for free and was very ungracious about it. This member never batted an eye. She should have.

Anyhow I am determined to grant the extra call on my own authority and tell my driver.

Who immediately refuses to do the call.

I am taking money out of his pocket. Rules are rules and how dare I change them. On and on.

Tonya returns. She is consulted and she agrees with me. The driver is called back by me one more time and he still refuses.

Tonya reroutes the call while I call the mmebefr and make her day saving her $50.

Tonya writes up the driver then informs our fearless leader Tami who tells her to call the driver's boss. This is a step I almost never take. Smacks too much of being a tattletale and perhaps too much joy in seeking revenge on a driver who is making my life miserable for no good reason then being a jerk.

His boss makes him take the call. By now it's almost quiting time so don't know how it worked out. We also had to pay the rerouted driver as well. The right thing to do. I have had years of this driver who CAN be a hero every now and then but I am starting to wonder if I really owe him anything.