When Good Words Go Bad

This is also known as Foot In Mouth Syndrome. It is very common among adult males of any age. It can strike at any time and there is, as yet, no known cure. Approximately 100% of men will suffer from this on at least a semi-regular basis. I have managed to turn it into an art form.

Let me set the scene up for you. We have a few long term care floors at work. The nurses generally work on the same floor everyday. This, of course, can change due to staffing shortages (or overages). I have a different relationship with everyone I work with. One of the nurses and I verbally spar, a lot. I found that it was a way to get her open up. She is very introverted. I wouldn't call her shy, just quiet. As most of you know, I don't do quiet very well. And, I prefer when others don't either. Anyway, this nurse does not normally work on one of the long term care floors.

When the resident finally succumbed to father times habitual harassment, it was at the beginning of the day shift and this nurse just happened to be one of the nurses who was working on the specific long term floor. Well, the family was notified. They came in to say their final farewells and contacted the funeral home of their choice.

When anyone dies, and the body transport arrives, it is my job to lead the transporters through the bowels of the complex to whatever room they need to get to. On the day in question, I was leading the man from the funeral home onto the floor where the deceased was. I happened to see lil' miss quiet sitting at the nurses station (not her normal nurses station). My comment to her, "My, (insert name here), aren't you the angel of death this morning."

On any other day this wouldn't be so bad. You see, working in an old folks home has gotten me used to death. It occurs, whether or not we want it to. And, as employees here, everyone seems a bit jaded by it. This day, however, was special. As I rounded the corner (that I was roughly 5 feet from when I made my statement), there right in front of me, was the whole family of the deceased. Grieving for their loss. I just hope they were so engrossed in their process that they didn't hear me. None of them made any indication that they had. Thank God.