You know the feeling! You come to work, you feel good, you're positive and ready to go.

You get your coffee, check your in-box, and then the mood shifts...

What do you usually find in YOUR box?  That's right. All the "nasty-grams" from your previous shift.  Rejected Teletypes, incorrect log entries, disapproved vacations (sorry, we're at minimum manning).

Now you are no longer in a jovial mood. Now you are ready to KILL!

Ok, so your not that far gone yet. But your mood has taken a nose-dive and it doesn't bode well for the rest of the shift.

This is how the day starts for many dispatchers. You wish just once there could be something positive in that in-box...just once.

“Dispatcher “I got-cha-now!”,

"Please see me today about that incident on 1 April, at 22:30 hours.  I noticed that you didn’t use the proper dispatch priority, any reason for this?"

                                              - Supervisor Sledgehammer

Ok, it usually it isn’t typed that nice.  It is usually written on a card or blank paper.  However it is relayed, you wince….”Oh, man I hate this!”

Moving on to the next piece of mail…

Oh, that's right,  your Teletype entry for the Stolen Vehicle you entered while you had one hand on the phone, the other on the radio, the other dispatcher, well they were in the bathroom (a long time), ..and it was 5pm, there were four accidents with injuries, ...one Medivac,... and Officer “Ticket” was getting the monthly quota all at once …..and …..

you wince REAL HARD as you read:

"Dispatcher “I got-you-now”

“Please take out… and re-enter the Chevy Truck you entered last night, the “VEH-MAKE CODE is incorrect”.  Please TRY to be more careful”

- Supervisor Sledgehammer.

You are now semi PERMANENTLY WINCING…

The fact is though there usually isn't anything positive in your in-box.  But there is not really anything "sinister" going on.  The shift leader or supervisor (if they are doing their job) are supposed to check the work of each shift. Unfortunately, no matter how good you are, we all make mistakes and thus - the INBOX blues!

Yet, you don't have to get uptight about it. You don't have to get angry. No matter what is in your inbox the best you can do is look at it, see if there is something to fix or learn from and MOVE ON.

No one is out to get you. Most supervisors, no matter what people think, are not trying to ruin your day. It's just their job.  Part of that job is to correct mistakes and let you know about it.

Sure, you can get all huffy about it. You can let it affect the rest of your shift. You can even carry the anger through the day and take it out on complainants, officers, and even your family when you get home.  But that is YOUR choice.

Or, you can decide that your going to take whatever is in your box as what it is designed to be. Simply a corrective measure.  

Remember the way you perceive a situation has a lot to do with the amount of stress you will experience.  Those pieces of paper can rule your life, or you can rule over them. Again, the choice is yours.

Yeah, it would be nice to have a "well-done" in the box sometimes. Sometimes there is. However, more times than often there is not.  It's just part of the job, and in the end if you do your job well everything will all balance out.

Important Reading:  "Phantom Dispatcher Syndrome"