911 dispatcher's moving essay goes viral: 'I am the person who convinces you that life is worth living'

A moving essay by a 911 dispatcher is going viral simply for shedding light on what she does for a living.

Lynette McManus Jeter posted “Just a Dispatcher” on Facebook on Wednesday, and her honest depiction of her difficult job has touched thousands of people.

“In order to understand who I am, you must first understand what I do,” she begins the post. The 39-year-old identifies herself to readers as the person who listens to them cry, begs them not to take their life, and talks them through giving their father CPR or their child the Heimlich maneuver. “I am the person who leaves my family, my home, and put my own life in danger during snow, hurricanes and bad weather so that I may be here to answer your emergency.” Still, she writes, to many people she’s “just a dispatcher.”

In the essay, the Chesterfield, Va., resident also goes on to apologize to her family members and friends for the way her work affects her personal life.

“To the thousand of callers that I speak to that think that I’m ‘Just a Dispatcher,’ remember that I may not be the first to arrive at your house but I’m the first person that you may speak to on possibly one of the worse days of your life,” the mother of three concludes. She then quotes Dr. Seuss: “To the world you may be one person; but to one person you may be the world.”

Her post, which includes a photo of her looking defeated at work, has been shared over 10k times, and garnered over 10,000 reactions and 2,600 comments.

McManus Jeter was “shocked” by the response. “I believed that it needed to be said, but I never in a million years was expecting it to go viral,” she tells Yahoo Lifestyle.

She was inspired to write the post at work one day when she realized she wasn’t the only dispatcher who felt this way. “I overheard a younger dispatcher talking to another dispatcher. She was saying how she felt bad because she didn’t have the patience she used to for her parents anymore,” McManus Jeter recalled. “I was thinking to myself, wow, she doesn’t even have nearly the same amount of experience as I did and she is dealing with some of the same personal issues that I am. It was just on my mind and in my heart, so I just begin typing as she was talking.”

McManus Jeter, who works for Henrico County, has been a 911 dispatcher for 15 years. “After 9/11, I really wanted to go into a career in which I was helping people out. So I decided to give dispatching a try,” she explained.

She sometimes doubts her decision, but in the end, the good outweighs the bad. “The fact that I know I’m making a difference in some way keeps me going. I may not always get a thank-you but I know I’m impacting someone’s life,” she reasoned. “I’ve had days where it was just too hard and I thought about quitting for my own mental well being. But then I turn around and have a good day that reminds me why I’m still there.”

As she states in the essay, it’s difficult not to take her work home with her. “I definitely don’t have the patience that I used to have,” she says, which is partly because she’s “trained to get all pertinent information within a certain amount of time.”

She also has a hard time empathizing with people who have more trivial issues. “Seeing so many people having real emergencies, I try not to just brush my friends’ and family’s problems off to something minor. Which can be difficult to do. I try to remind myself this may not be life or death but it’s still major to them,” she said. “It’s difficult to not get desensitized at times when you’re dealing with big stuff on a day-to-day basis.”

Her essay was a way to explain that to people in her life. “I believe people did get a better understanding of what we do from reading it,” she said. “I think most of the time when people call into 911 they don’t think about the person on the other end of that phone that is going through the emotions with them. I’ve had thousands of people reply saying they didn’t realize we went through that or didn’t think about the calls we received.”

The proof is in the comments. “I’ll be one to admit, This just opened my eyes a lil more,” one follower wrote. “I didn’t realize myself what a toll it could have on a person to have this type of job, thank you for being there for us all,” someone else said.

Many fellow dispatchers and first responders are also admirers of her post. “I’ve had an overwhelming amount of responses from other dispatchers, police officers, firefighters. Everyone has been very supportive and thanking me for telling our truth,” she said. “I’ve seen in the Facebook thread friends thanking friends for what they do, mothers thanking daughters, it’s just been amazing.” Others are sharing their own experiences with first responders. “I remember the calm voice I spoke to when my daughter committed suicide… a God send. Thank you ALL for being so kind, compassionate, & caring,” one person wrote. “This stopped me in my tracks today. Much respect & appreciation as ‘a dispatcher’ was there for me during a morning to comfort me as my 20 month old prince hung on to his last few moments of life, and several other occasions that ‘a dispatcher’ was there to carry us thru other tense moments. God bless, prosper & continue to strengthen you ALL mightily,” someone else shared.

Her children are also impressed. “My three kids have all read it and think it’s great,” she says. “My oldest son calls me his hero. My daughter did a mini-interview with me for her school project right before I wrote it,” she gushes.

While painting an honest picture of her profession was a priority, McManus Jeter has a bigger goal: to get 911 dispatchers recognized as first responders. “I’m just hoping from all of this we can finally get the reclassification to first responders that we deserve.”

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

• Brad Meltzer, who found the missing 9/11 flag, says son will ‘win homework’ when he sees essay prompt

• Principal cleans school when sole daytime custodian has an emergency

• Demi Lovato’s friends saved her life with Narcan: Should more people carry this?

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