The Wolf

Crisis mental health work is a very interesting field.  We are what is known as "second responders".  Police, fire, and medical are all first responders. This isn't to say that we aren't first on the scene in some cases. Calls that come from the crisis line and not directly from police allow us to go out first and bring police with us. Four out of five times these are false alarms though. We stand there sheepishly talking to a completely or at least semi composed person while fully armed officers shuffle their feet in the hall. It has to be done for the sake of that fifth time out of five when you're glad the officer is there.

As second responders, though, when we are called out, often the acute crisis has abated and police are unsure of what to do next. The person isn't committing crimes, but neither can police simply leave someone who is in a concerning mental state. I often felt redundant on these calls. To me it seemed that the officers could have handled the situation on their own if they truly had to and that we were superfluous. Thankfully, a co-worker pointed out to me that I underestimate our expertise in the situation and had the brilliant suggestion that I think of us more like Harvey Keitel as Winston Wolf from Pulp Fiction in "The Bonnie Situation". 

In Pulp Fiction, Jules and Vincent are assassins.  While driving back from a job, Vincent's gun goes off shooting their associate Marvin (fun fact: played by Phil LaMar of Futuruama!) in the head at point blank range.  This creates a bloody mess of their car. They pull into their friend Jimmy's (played by Quenten Tarantino himself) to regroup. However, Jimmy's wife Bonnie is coming home from the night shift at 9:30am.  Jules calls for help, and Mr. Wallace sends out The Wolf. (Graphic language and some cleaning of blood in the following clip, but there is a cameo by Julia Sweeny!)

Does the Wolf actually DO anything that Jules, Vincent, or Jimmy could not have done? The answer is no.  Clean out the car? Cover the seats with blankets? Wash up? Simple solutions. His connection to the junkyard is the one unique trait he brings to the job and likely Jules or Vincent could have come up with a workable solution through their own connections. What Winston Wolf really brings to the situation is his calmness and perspective. Let me tell you, this job has become easier (and cooler!) for me since I just started thinking of myself as The Wolf headed out to a call.