Jack The Ambulance Driver

The morning sun had arrived dramatically, heralded by the joyful cacophony of the infinite droves of summer songbirds. The bright orb in the sky promising another pleasantly warm day.

I wasn’t having it. My eyes were gritty and red, my hair disheveled, and my paramedic uniform was, well, frumpy and wrinkled. I had barrowed the medic unit for a solo, first light, Jack In The Box run and had little on my mind other than a breakfast cressant.

Also my then girlfriend later wife, worked at Jack In The Box and it would be good to see her if only for a minute.

At this particular moment in time I was working full-time as a paramedic for a medium sized ambulance company. That meant five, forty-eight hour shifts per month. The night before had not been kind to me, leaving me slightly cantankerous, smelly and exhausted.

During a medical call from the night before I had given a medicine causing an acute anaphylaxis(life threatening allergic reaction) and the call stuck to me like grits to my ribs. At first my epinephrine had failed to work. I had not noticed beta-blockers in the patients medicine list. After that I gave a little glucagon and my next epi dose worked magic, saving a life I had almost lost. I mulled this over and over, trying to gain insight on how I could have done things differently perhaps, better.

I arrived at my chosen feed trough in short order and went inside, waving to my girl as I placed my order and took an out-of-the-way seat in the corner.

Ah.

Relaxed.

Grub incoming.

I just wanted to ponder that aid call quietly to myself.

“HI!” The voice was deep and uncomfortably intruding upon my self inflicted solitude.

“Hi. I’m Jack.”The man large man said thrusting his huge meaty hand at towards me, smiling brightly and unabashedly.

“Hi.” I said carefully, taking the man’s cold limp hand to shake. That’s when I noticed the man’s features marked him as being around forty years of age. I looked at his almond shaped eyes and the simple expression on his face.

Great, I thought to myself, he’s going to talk all through breakfast if I invite him to join me.

“What’s your name?” Jack asked in a deep childlike voice.

I saw my food coming so I told him my name and started to stand and beg off that I couldn’t stay to chat. My girlfriend, who brought the food, however, was glaring at me. You know “that look,” that assumes many levels of disapproval in a tiny glance and head shake.

I sighed at sat back down asking Jack to join me in the seat across the small table. I was slightly irritated now, my call all but forgotten.

Sitting himself at the table Jack spoke up, grinning,

“Is that your ambulance right outside?”

“Yes, well, kind of? The company I work for owns it, but its the one I work in and is set up how I like it.”

“It is yours!” He said clapping. Then almost whispering he asks, “Do you get to drive it?”

“Yes, all the time.”

Now he gets extremely excited clapping and yelling “I knew it, I knew it! I knew you are one of the good guys, you’re really nice.”

I was starting to feel ashamed of my earlier attempt to escape prior to the conversation, then Jack inadvertently drove the lesson in humility home.

“I can’t drive, so ya. I know you are busy helping people, but hey, do you think I could ever wash the ambulance? It would be awesome!” He was grinning like the Cheshire cat.

Wash? I thought. That’s his angle. He will never drive it in his lifetime, assumes I’m too busy to bother, probably from how I responded to him earlier, and he wants to be close to his passion even if it means free washes to achieve said dream.

Guilt and shame welled up in me, an overflowing tidal wave of remorse. The job I take for granted is his only wish.

Now done with my breakfast I stood and said, “Come on Jack, today’s your lucky day. You get to drive an ambulance.”

“WITH THE LIGHTS AND SIREN ON?”

“Of course with the lights and sirens on.”

One plastic fire helmet and one small ambulance dent later Jack was a man in bliss. He told me over and over about the time he got to drive an ambulance with lights and sirens on and thanked me profusely.

I should have been thanking him.

Seriously, I hope he’s still telling that story.

Jack the ambulance driver, look out selfishness.