Americans are struggling to get work done today. We're all captivated by the rescue of Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus, and Michelle Knight from the Ohio home where they'd been held for nearly a decade since being kidnapped. We're hungry for details of how Amanda escaped, how she managed to get to a phone and make the 911 call that's being played over and over and over again just so we can hear her say the words, "I've been kidnapped for 10 years ... I'm free now."
The call is short, some are already saying too short. The joy over hearing a girl kidnapped as a teenager enjoy her freedom has been interrupted by the Monday morning quarterbacks already taking the 911 dispatcher to task.
She's been called out for rushing Amanda off the phone, for not being empathetic enough.
Are the critics right? Perhaps.
On the other hand, she's a 911 dispatcher, and they have to develop a thick outer shell or that job will take them down. They hear the worst of the worst on a daily basis, and there are also people who fake it. We now know WHO Amanda Berry is, but the case was 10 years old. What are the chances the girl's name rang a bell for her?
Can't we just take this 911 call for what it is? A joyful sign that three young women whose families have grieved their loss for far too long are free? That the disappearance of Berry, DeJesus, and Knight has been solved ... and all three are still alive? That Amanda Berry showed extreme courage in gaining the attention of neighbors after Castro left and in making this call to the police?
No doubt the dispatcher herself is going round and round with herself about how it all went down, that she is the woman who fielded this call of all calls.
Because this was a mother of a call, a call that changed everything for these women and their families. This call is a good thing, America. It's something to make us feel hope today.
Listen:
See this video on The Stir by CafeMom.
Have you listened to Amanda Berry's 911 call? What were your thoughts?
Image via FBI