"911, state your emergency and have your credit card ready."

So, I got my phone bill today for my iPhone and it was a little higher than normal so I looked through the breakdown of charges and I figured out why. And I was none too pleased about it either. So here's the story:

About 3 weeks ago, Paul and I were leaving Columbia and heading back to Ellicott City, where I was going to be babysitting. We had just enough time to get from where we were to where I needed to be. As we were getting onto 29N from 175W there was a car pulled off on the side of the exit ramp. In the brief few seconds we had to register what was going on, we saw the following...

1. car, a tan ford, pulled off into the shoulder

2. a woman in the driver's seat with the door open

3. a man laying in the fetal position in the grass on the passenger side of the car

4. he looked middle age-ish and was wearing business attire

Obviously something was wrong. I thought he was probably having a heart attack or stroke or something like that. But it could have been something totally different. We wanted to help in some way and would have stopped if we weren't pressed for time. So instead I call the police to let them know about the situation. I talked to the dispatcher for a couple minutes and he asked me several questions and sent someone to follow up on it. Then I was patched through to the fire department so I could tell them everything. It felt good knowing that help was on the way.

So back to the phone bill. Listed under Government Fees & Taxes were the charges for calling 911. Um. I thought we already pay for that service when we pay our state property, sales and income taxes. Is it really necessary to charge me again?

911 Service Fee - $.75

911 State Fee - $.25

MD State Sales Tax - $4.47

$5.47? Really? I was on the phone for about 3 minutes. Now, I'm not saying that helping that man wasn't worth $5.47 because life is more valuable than money. But I just can not believe that the state of Maryland is making money off of people's emergencies. What a terrible way to take advantage of people, because what other choice do we have? Who else do you call in the case of an emergency?

This past week at preschool was Fire Safety Week and we've (obviously) been talking about what to do if you're house is on fire and had a fireman come visit so the kids would know that they are friends and can be trusted. We did the whole "Stop. Drop. And Roll." thing. It was really fun and the kids loved playing dress up with all the firefighter clothes and hats we had out for them.

We even made sure they all knew what number to dial in case of an emergency. But now I'm wondering if I should clarify myself next week. "Okay, friends, you all know you're supposed to call 911 if you're in an trouble and you need help, but only call if it's your last resort because it'll cost ya."