How bad could it be -- First day on the job -- The rule of nines -- The Napoleon -- Mr. Bubble -- On a wine-dark sea -- Beer -- Breakfast of champions -- Boudicca goes soft -- Death of a cynic -- A date for the prom -- A whirlpool -- Jesus speaks -- The least we can do -- Silence is golden -- Those guys -- A house like mine -- I'm a daddy -- Suppertime -- All it takes -- What friends are for -- To all a good night -- The worts thing you've ever seen -- Spare change -- Candy -- Don't blink -- Somebody else's shoes -- Erosion -- Sure fooled me -- Omaha Beach -- The sight of blood -- Done -- Paperwork -- Two prisoners -- A visit from a friend -- Bon voyage, scumbag -- Go figure -- The bear -- The park is good -- Still life with a prostitute -- JFK -- On a day like today -- A cold day in hell.
Summary:
Recounts the author's experiences as a sensitive 1960s college student who worked during the summer as a New York City emergency-ambulance attendant. "A gritty, propulsive, and raw coming-of-age story about a teenager getting his first taste of lite and death in 1960s New York City. Bad Call is Mike Scardino's visceral, fast-moving, and mordantly funny account of the summers he spent working as an 'ambulance attendant' on the mean streets of late-1960s New York. Fueled by adrenaline and Sabrett's hot dogs, young Mike spends his days speeding from one chaotic emergency to another. His adventures take him into the middle of incipient race riots, to the scene of a plane crash at JFK Airport, and into private lives all over Queens, where New Yorkers are suffering, and dying, in unimaginable ways. Learning on the job, Mike encounters all manner of freakish accidents (the man who drank Drano, the woman attacked by rats, the man who inflated like a balloon), meets countless unforgettable New York characters, falls in love, is nearly murdered, and gets an early and indelible education in the impermanence of life and the cruelty of chance. Action-packed, poignant, and rich with details that bring Mike's world to technicolor life, Bad Call is a gritty portrait of a bygone era as well as a bracing reminder that, though 'life itself is a fatal condition,' it's worth pausing to notice the moments of beauty, hope, and everyday heroism along the way."--Dust jacket.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.