While I roll the chair back over I didn’t fail to notice the side eyes given from the duo on the last row, it left me feeling like my ears were on fire. I mention it to Chaplain once we’re seated at the console together. She purses her lips while she looks to see who I was referring to, “Do you mean the short black guy with the ‘fro who’s tethered to the wannabe playboy with bad highlights?” I nod, grinning at her description of the pair. Chaplain rolls her eyes, “Don’t worry about those two, that’s just Wayne and his trainee Adam. Adam just got transferred to us about a month ago from some IT job on the East Coast.”

“That would explain the beach bum thing he has going on.” I say with a laugh.

“Right? Okay, but onto training,” Chaplain digs around in the large pink beach bag she brought until she pulls out a black plastic box, “Okay, so since this is your first day with us, I’m gonna let you just observe how the floor runs. It’s a beast at times, so don’t hesitate to jot down any questions you might have and I’ll see if I can’t answer them for you once we get a sec to catch our breath.” She opens the box and pulls out a standard looking black and silver cord headset. Not exactly what I expected from a center as hightech as the CDSP.

She pulls out another black cord and attaches it to her own headset, the the console, and offers the other section where it split off to me, “Okay girl, plug in and let’s get this show on the road.” A chargin smile finds it way onto my face, “Yeah, I don’t have a head set yet. Where do y’all store the spares?”

Chaplain drops the piece and points a over her shoulder at the back wall, “Don’t sweat it, they’re on that back shelf in front of the Supervisor’s station. They’re gonna be in black boxes like mine.” Before I’m able to get up from my chair a new female voice shouts from somewhere on the Sup platform, “Chaplain! We’ve been in here for four minutes already, why aren’t you up yet? There’s people here ready to leave.”

“Sorry Deselyn, trying to get the trainee set up for her first shift. I’m almost up.” Chaplain shouts back without turning around. I glance up at the eight console screens in front of us. To my amazement she had already logged in and started up the CAD (Computer Aided Dispatch) System and a couple of others that I honestly didn’t even recognize. It takes me a second longer than I’m proud to admit before realized I still haven’t moved to grab a headset.

By the time I’ve rushed back to the console, she was done setting up. We don’t waste anymore time before flipping the phone system online. Immediately, my left ear fills with a muted hum. This may be strange to say to say, but the familiar sound calms me a bit. I hadn’t realized how tense I had become since stepping onto the Communications Floor.