Smoking Is Bad For Your Health

R.a.n.t. of week 07/21/13

Did you know smoking can be hazardous to your health? I found out exactly why last week. As I was driving to drop my kids off at their mothers house, I suddenly noticed a woman laying on the ground with a wheel-chair tipped backwards. I rushed back to see what assistance I could offer when suddenly a man came out of another car not too far away and shouted at me not to move her. Puzzled, I looked down to the lady who was conscious but not hysterical. I almost began to wonder if this was some kind of a scam, but the man told me she was from the nursing home we were in front of, and they were already alerted to her condition. (The elephant in the room I want to discuss is why he was sitting in his car when I got there). He further explained he didn't want to risk moving her and accidentally doing more damage than good. However he relented to try and make her more comfortable and took a backpack from the tipped wheel chair and used it as a make-shift pillow for her. A box of cigarettes fell out and she asked him if he would light up a cigarette for her. He told her she would have to wait as the nurses from the facility were now on their way out, though they had to walk across the large parking lot to reach her. Before they did, a police officer showed up to find out what the commotion was and as he bend down to ascertain her situation, the lady (from out of nowhere) offered the officer a lighter and cigarette and asked him if he would light it for her. Keep in mind, she's still on the ground, laying on her side, resting her head on the 'pillow'. Of course the officer told her no, indicating they already called an ambulance for her. Then, for whatever reason, she explained she had an important appointment at St. Luke's Hospital at 7:00. The time currently was 7:10.

The nurses finally showed up and we received additional background information about the lady when one said, "You certainly are thick-headed, ain't you?. Didn't we tell you, you didn't have time to take a smoke? And now look what happened, flat on your back. We told you this would happen when you axed to go for a cigarette? The wheelchair can't make it over this hump (in the sidewalk). Now an ambulance is coming for you, and it's just as well because you missed your appointment." You could tell she was frustrated. Now I don't know this part of the story, but my observations tell me the lady on the ground was originally inside and wanted to have a smoke, but when told no, decided to go outside anyway. Trying to get out of view of the care facility, she went across the parking lot to scoot up the sidewalk a bit, when she suddenly flipped over backwards. And all this for a cigarette. Those things aren't addictive or anything are they? They certainly are dangerous.

Health Insurance Meeting

R.a.n.t. of week 01/13/13

My company recently had our annual health insurance meeting. At this meeting, we generally go over what has changed between this year and the previous year health insurance. If you are anything like me, the information can be a bit hard to digest at times. Lots of facts and figures are thrown our way and after a while, I'm like, 'HUH'? For an example, here's a paraphrased example of the conversation we had.

"Welcome to the health insurance meeting. Sorry we didn't bring any doughnuts or Suzie's cheesecakes, we didn't think anyone would be interested. There is some black coffee available, hope you don't like sugar or cream. Anyway, let's jump right into the meeting shall we?"

"As you'll notice in the packet we've made available, there are some major and minor changes to the health insurance that were really necessary this year. If you'll open the packet and take out the white noise form, located behind the white noise form, you'll notice the facts and figures of white noise for the year has white noise in the white noise with the necessary white noise. This white noise feature covers white noise but leaves out white noise for when you white noise with the white noise in the white noise of white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise I hope you are not really reading this white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise we receive your first born child white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise white noise.

Thank you for your attention. See you next year."

It's Just a Job

R.a.n.t. of week 10/07/12

If there is one thing we can almost all agree on, it's jobs are (for the most part) not fun. Essentially they are boring and tedious. Much like the photo to the left illustrates, many jobs suck the life out of us. Of course my friend Ray is the exception. He works at a brewery and LOVES his job. Good for him I say! But for the rest of us, it can be tiresome. The problem is, some people let the job completely get away from them. There is a point where we need to 'buck up' and take the job seriously, despite the unpleasantness of it. Mostly because some jobs are essential, performance can mean the difference between something finely crafted, or complete crap. In some jobs, you actually need to deal with other people. Take a doctor for example. Treating this important job as 'just a job' can mean the difference between removing a patients tonsils or toenails.

As I mentioned last week, my dad took a bit of a tumble and broke his hip. A bored and inattentive doctor may well have inspected my dads lip instead of his hip and determined nothing was wrong. This week, he's out of the hospital and in a rehab centre. Visiting him has reminded me how important it is for the staff to pay attention to the needs of those under their care. For example, just this morning I went to visit my dad. From one of the first rooms I passed, a frail sounding patient was calling out for 'water' as if he hadn't had a drop in a week. Then I passed an elderly lady in a wheelchair trying to get coffee from a reception area. She was obvious a resident because she had a lost look on her face. My step-mother went to offer assistance, with the receptionist sitting close by. Following is a partial transcript of the conversation:
Sue (Step Mom): Are you trying to get coffee?
Resident: I don't know. I like coffee.
Sue: I think you overfilled your cup. Let me help you.
Resident: Thank you.
Sue: What's your name?
Resident: I don't know...... Eugenia.
Sue: Do you take cream or sugar Eugenia?
Resident: I don't know. I like sugar.
Sue: Are you going back to your room?
Resident: I don't know.
Sue: Where is your room?
Resident: I don't know.
Sue: (Asking receptionist) Do you know this resident?
Resident: I came from that direction. (Pointing down the hall).
Receptionist: Yes, her room is over there.
Resident: I can find it, thank you.
She went on her way, so we decided to go on ours and visited with my dad for a bit. The visit went well, but on our way out, from one of the last rooms we passed we heard a frail sounding patient calling out for 'water' as if he hadn't had a drop in a week and 40 minutes.

I'm not certain what the circumstance are for each case, but makes me wonder at times how sincere some of the care workers are that are helping our elderly parents, family or friends in care facilities. I don't work in such a place so it's hard for me to image what these care workers have to deal with on a regular basis. I just hope these residents have family or friends that checks in on them, because the care workers realistically have no emotional bond. I've felt depressed before when I've felt lonely, but to feel lonely or abandoned in this type of situation really makes me think I've got to 'buck up' next time I'm feeling like that. My dad's lucky, he's got three daughters and one son that visit him regularly. His wife visits him daily. He's also getting many calls, cards and visits from a plethora of friends. (Yes, I know what a plethora is). Do you know someone in a care facility? Has it been awhile since you've visited? Maybe now would be a good time to schedule a visit. Bring them some joy, bring them some love, bring them some water.