OK, I've picked up a new bad habit. That of listening to the online scanner. It's not just one frequency, however - but a compilation of police, fire, airport, bus barns, ODOT, medial - a literal information potpourri, happening in real time and being transmitted for our voyeuristic pleasure.
I like it, but it makes me a little crazy. See, all you ever get is a sliver of a story..never the whole thing. A traffic stop...an officer involved shooting...a medical story...a frustrated bus driver...
We all know that a good story has a beginning, a middle and an end. When you listen to the scanner and hear fragments of a a call - you don't' know which part of the story you're getting. Is this the start of a new chapter in someone's life? Is this going to be the straw that breaks the camel's back? Is this the climax to a conflict that's been brewing for decades?
Since Steve Jones turned me on to this site the last couple of weeks, I've had so many questions? Why did the kid kill his dog? What was that couple fighting about that it escalated to a police call? What prompted that guy to try to evade the police? My favorite...the airport EMS system that was activated because a passenger on an inbound Alaska Airlines flight thought he saw flames coming out the engine!
Snapshots - slivers - fragments. Where's Paul Harvey when you need him? I want to know "the rest of the story!"
If you've never listened, here's a link. Online Police Scanner
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