My first 911 call...whoa!

Today definitely ranks, without a doubt, as one of the most exciting days at the bike shop to date. Not to mention being a landmark moment in my own life! I called 911!!! HA! Never thought I’d be doing that. Heres the scoop kids.

It’s a couple hours before close at good ol’ Bike One of Norman. Myself and my coworker Chris are both working with customers, selling bikes, having our usual good fun. I’m in the process of trying to wrap up a sale when a guy comes in pushing a department store bike. He’s lookin a little worse for wear, but is coherent, and overall functioning ok, so we didn’t think anything of him. We say hello, tell him it’ll be just a minute before we can help him. He’s checkin out some bikes we have sitting adjacent to the work area, then suddenly sits down right in the middle of the floor saying he feels like he’s gonna throw up or pass out!! Needless to say, not the usual reaction we have from someone upon entering the store! We are used to seeing sticker shock upon the realization of how much quality bicycles can go for…but never this!!

We begin our inquisition! Are you feeling ok? Can we get you anything? Is there someone we can call? All we can get out of him is that he is sick. I’m going to say that it was my Wilderness First Aid training that kicked into gear at this point…just so I can feel good about dropping $200 on it. I try to make inroads some more with questions about how he is feeling. He is becoming more incoherent and we aren’t getting anything substantial. All he'll say is that he is sick. Won’t say what he’s feeling, just that he’s sick and that he doesn’t want us to call anyone. Fishy, fishy, fishy… Chris and I have to physically help pick him up off the floor to set him in the chair that we procured for him. He is shaking, head in hands, and things are NOT getting better.

By this point, everyone in the shop is getting a little freaked out. Chris, myself, the customers, all of us, are wondering what is going on with this guy. Chris and I are both thinking drugs of some kind, whether intentional, or an accidental combination of substances. With his eyes being all jacked up, the shakes he has, and the fact he’s being so tight lipped about it all, again whether intential, or a side affect of whatever is happening, is not helping his case. I grab my phone, go to the back as to not alarm anyone, and make the 911 call, all the while thinking of how funny it is that my voice and call-in are being recorded and will be on file for years to come, just like what you hear on the cop shows!! HA! Oh what a joy it is to find humor in the idiosyncrasies life has to offer.

I come back out front, continue my work trying to get this bike rolling for two young college ladies, who are just as freaked out and wide eyed as me! Thankfully they don’t seem to mind that the distraction of a delirious shaking man is making me take three times as long as normal to finish prepping their bike. Finally a police woman shows up and takes over. When everything is said and done, we’ve got two police cars, a HUGE yellow fire truck (you’d think Bike One was burning down judging by the size of the fire truck…I swear it was the biggest one they have), and an ambulance all sitting outside of Bike One. HA! Chris and I couldn’t help but later laugh at the sheer ridiculousness of it all! Neither of us had ever seen anything like it!

To make an already long story short, the man goes to the hospital and all ends well for us. I hope and pray it does for that man too. Definitely an exciting day. I don’t think I’ll forget this one any time soon! Oh life…the curve balls you throw us….