Sandy MaloneCentennial, CO – A Jefferson County 911 dispatcher found herself the recipient of a nasty note after a rude neighbor assumed she had been violating Colorado’s stay-at-home order.
Heather Silchia, a mother of three young children, works the midnight shift as a dispatcher in Jefferson County’s 911 call center full time, KDVR reported.
So imagine Silchia’s surprise – and dismay – when she found a nasty note under her windshield wiper on April 11 telling her that she should be staying home.
“PLEASE STAY HOME!” the unfriendly message left on her car parked in front of her home began.
“I noticed a few days a week you leave home with your baby and return a short time later without it,” the nosy neighbor wrote. “Then I see the man of the house arrive with the baby later in the afternoon while your vehicle hasn’t moved all day. This leads me to believe that the kid is in daycare.”
“Stop,” the note ordered Silchia. “I am assuming that man has an essential job since he is gone all day but if you are home there is no reason for your child to be in daycare at a time like this.”
“I also see you leave shortly after your husband (I assume) gets home,” the missive continued. “You aren’t wearing any sort of uniform and I have never seen you wear a mask. Bars are closed and you couldn’t possibly be getting groceries every night (which would also require you to wear a mask) so again I ask you to please stay home.”
“Also, do everyone in the neighborhood a favor and keep your older kids inside. They are loud,” the neighbor ordered her. “Help do your part in keeping our town safe and STOP LEAVING YOUR HOME!”
The note was signed “Sincerely, All your neighbors.”
The dispatcher, who told KDVR that she was raised by two first responders, said her job answering 911 calls on the graveyard shift during the coronavirus pandemic is crazy, stressful work with trying to notify police and fire department personnel about potential virus contamination at any scene.
Despite juggling a full-time job and three tiny children while she and her husband work opposite shifts, Silchia seemed to take the nasty note in stride.
“If somebody’s having a bad day, and they’re taking it out on you, just be kind, and that’s something I have to do every day in my job,” she said. “Even though we just answer the phone and we don’t respond to the call ourselves, we are the first to respond to people’s cry for help.”
Silchia said she hoped sharing her story would serve to remind other nosy neighbor types that no all essential workers wear uniforms, KDVR reported.