Wisconsin mom mistakes actual 911 for Nanny 911

by J.D. Griffioen (Subscribe to J.D. Griffioen's posts)
May 11th 2007 9:03AM

Filed under: Media, That's Entertainment

A woman in Dodge County, Oregon called 911 this week and asked the emergency services dispatcher to send her a nanny. "I need a nanny," she said. "Yeah, this is a nanny 911." The recording of the phone call goes on, the woman asks the dispatcher for a babysitter, help with her kids, and someone to keep her company around the house.

The dispatcher informed the caller that 911 is for emergencies like police, fire and ambulance services. After some back and forth, the caller realizes her mistake, said, "Okay," and hung up.

Local law enforcement claims it was the evil influence of television that's to blame. "That's just an example of some of the influences television has on some of the things we deal with," said Dodge County Sheriff Todd Nehls. Police could go after the caller for misuse of the 911 system, but Nehls said, "With this one, we didn't push it. If she had called back, we may have taken it further."

Everyone is acting like this lady was incredibly stupid, but I think she's a genius. If there really is a wonderful Hobbiton-like land where nannies all live together in a thatched-roof cottage under the strict tutelage of a gray-haired uber-nanny, waiting for overworked housewives living in McMansions in anonymous American subdivisions to call with requests for help, why shouldn't every county in America set up a similar service?