Social Commentary

I have had many stories over the past few months that have left me shocked, sad or laughing but I thought I'd take time to at least share 2 that have really stuck with me... one because it was completely awkward... and the other because of the sadness of it all. I'll start with the sad one... cause the awkward one will at least have you leaving laughing in disbelief. ;)

Story #1
The other day we had a little old lady (LOL) admitted for stroke (which is the most common neurology admission by far). It quickly became apparent that she would need a good family support upon leaving, besides the fact that we needed to notify her family of her admission. When we asked who to contact she basically told us the only person in her life was her grown son, who she supported. We asked her how we could contact him, she said that we wouldn't be able to, since he never answered the phone at their house.

Eventually we told her we needed to admit her for a little while, at which point she said she had to leave to give her son money for food. She said he wouldn't be able to get food if she didn't give him his $2.52. We all quickly looked at each other. She went on saying that he's daily meal cost $2.52 from Taco Bell and described some sort of burrito. She then added that her daily meal cost $2.42 and was a salad and hamburger.We all left the room and looked at each other and comment on how sad it is that this lady was living on one small meal a day from a fast food restaurant.

Story #2 (warning, somewhat graphic in nature)
About 1/2 way through my Ob rotation I was helping out with triage and admissions histories. My resident sent me down to one of the rooms to take an admission history of a lady that presented to triage in active labor. I went down and started taking the history. About half way through taking the history and trying to calm the lady down something caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. I looked over to where the lady's finance was sitting and was a little shocked to say the least. The guy was laying down on the window bench with a blanket over his head. That's not what caught my attention... what caught my attention was the way he was moving... and the fact that his hand was down his pants. When I realized what was going on I quickly turned my back on the guy and finished the history as fast as I could.

When I told the nurses what had happened one of the nurses said if it happened again she'd be sure to "set the boy straight." Needless to say, we had a laugh at my completely awkward situation.