[0:00] Beyond the Badge is brought to you by [0:02] the Edina Crime Prevention Fund. [0:19] My name is Melissa and I'm a 911 [0:21] dispatcher. [0:24] 911 trying to work on location, but [0:27] she's got felony warrants. [0:32] Okay. What are you feeling? [0:34] I actually have a degree in journalism. [0:37] So, I worked in newspaper for a couple [0:39] years straight out of college and then [0:40] was starting to look for something new. [0:42] I've always been a multitasker and I [0:44] like to stay really busy all the time. [0:47] So, I was like, "Yeah, I could do that [0:48] for a job." [0:50] All right. Are you just in the main [0:51] lobby or are you in a room somewhere? I [0:54] worried a little bit about if it would [0:58] eventually get to me and start to like [1:01] dampen the joys in life, but I knew I [1:05] knew that if I could get through the [1:06] training that I could do it just at the [1:10] core of like what the skills were. [1:12] Answer the phone, talk on the radio at [1:14] the same time, type really fast. I knew [1:17] I could do those skills if I could just [1:19] kind of like make it through the [1:20] training process and be able to handle, [1:22] you know, the heightened callers, the [1:23] emotional callers. And when you go into [1:26] the job, you think that's what it's all [1:27] going to be. You're like, "Oh my gosh, [1:29] every person is going to be super upset. [1:30] Every person is going to be screaming, [1:32] yelling, crying, and it's not." [1:34] 348 for a description. [1:36] Go for it. 1309. [1:41] Eventually, you do start to get a little [1:43] burned out. You get compassion fatigue [1:45] is a huge word in our industry. Like you [1:47] just [1:48] after 12 hours of it every day for 10 [1:51] years, at some point you just can't [1:53] muster up the emotional capacity to even [1:56] like get halfway there. [2:01] You can work your way through it or you [2:04] can burn out and decide that you're done [2:06] with the career, with the industry. [2:11] What makes you laugh? what makes you [2:13] happy and then doing other things to [2:15] remind you like people are people. [2:32] We are at Waconia High School and we are [2:35] four weeks into our 7-week rehearsal [2:38] period for The Wizard of Oz, which is [2:40] our first community theater production [2:42] in Wakonia in [2:44] at least 20 years. Coordinated chaos [2:47] because all this this is organized. [2:50] I know where it all is. Do need to sneak [2:52] behind you and get monkey stuff though. [2:54] This works. [2:54] Perfect. Awesome. I have been doing [2:59] theater since I was about six. [3:04] Initially, when I was new, people were [3:07] like, "Oh, okay." You know, it's not [3:10] something that really goes with law [3:13] enforcement. Now, they're not surprised [3:14] at all. [3:20] All right. So, let's start right on 37. [3:25] All right, here we go. One, two, one, [3:27] two. Ho ho ho ho ho ho and a couple of [3:31] drums. I'm also conducting the pit [3:34] orchestra for this because that's where [3:37] I got back into theater as an adult was [3:39] on like the instrumental side of things. [3:42] I played piano in a bunch of pit [3:43] orchestras and then kind of worked my [3:44] way up from there. [3:51] It helps because it's so completely [3:54] different. The crises that you run into [3:58] in theater are nothing compared to like [4:01] 911 crises of like so and so's not [4:04] breathing. I can't find my kid. You [4:07] know, it's so and so's costume ripped. [4:09] The mic pack battery is dead. How are we [4:12] gonna get a new microphone to Jack Kelly [4:15] and Newsies before his big solo on stage [4:19] [Music] [4:35] was 100% worth it seeing everybody now [4:38] that we've come together. The costumes [4:40] are ready. The music is here. We had a [4:42] show last night that had 450 people in [4:44] it. [4:49] [Music] [4:52] So, bringing community theater back to [4:54] the community that hasn't had it in [4:55] about two decades has been absolutely [4:57] 100% worth it. [5:01] [Music] [5:03] [Applause] [5:05] The most rewarding in this one is uh [5:09] conducting the pit orchestra during the [5:11] show because when things go right, it [5:14] sounds really, really good. [5:19] [Music] [5:21] We've already got people asking what [5:22] we're going to do next summer. We've [5:24] proven that we have the talent in this [5:25] community and the audience is giving [5:28] that back to us by coming out. So, it's [5:30] just it's good all around. [5:32] [Music] [5:34] [Applause] [5:48] [Music] [5:52] [Applause]