A Little Needed Perspective

It is so damn easy for people to get tied up in their own little worlds, consumed by the daily grind that we all too easily forget that we are just a tiny part in a much larger and complicated world. The belief that our own little trials and tribulations are the summation of existence is pervasive these days making it important that something come around and knock us back into place. Call it God, Karma, or just the universe giving a much needed attitude adjustment this is how I received my most recent wake up call.

This summer has not been one for the books in a good way, from the moment the kids were out of school it has literally been one cluster frak after the other. Many times during the all too common hot and humid mornings I would arrive home with just enough time to load my kids up in the car and haul butt to whatever destination they needed to be at that morning. Even with the cool air from the air conditioner blowing at full power my work clothes often felt sticky and uncomfortable with my skin crawling underneath. The loud and conflicting voices of a teenage boy and young girl each demanding some action on my part did nothing to make my mood much better. Throw in a couple of friends, add some obnoxious music, and I would be lying if I said the thought didn't cross my mind a couple of times about dumping them out on the side of some deserted road.

Work has not helped, my nights are often placid and even lonely affairs at times but lately it's been one thing after the other and with a new parts ordering system I have been playing the diplomat to angry night time doctors and nurses upset that some surgical table or sterilizer is still not fixed. It all came to a head for me this week having to jump to day shift to cover for my two team mates who are both on vacation. Even with the kids back in school my dad taxi and errand boy duties have not decreased and with me now working strange day time hours I find myself falling further behind. Needless to say I have been pissing vinegar and manufacturing an excess of self pity this week, that is until I was leaving work Tuesday afternoon.

The crowd was doing its usual mad rush with each and every soul intent on being the first out the door. As I walked in the middle of everyone my thoughts were consumed with getting my daughter to her gymnastics practice, stopping by the grocery store, and wondering if my son would want a ride someplace the minute I finally got home. It might seem ridiculous but right as I was about to pass a set of huge sliding glass doors I noticed one of my shoes was untied and moved out of the way so I could tie it again.

The crowd I was part of passed on by leaving the hallway mostly clear for the moment, it was then that on the other side of the sliding doors I saw a seriously old van pull up. At best it was an early 80's Dodge model and had clearly saw its best days a long time ago. Even through the sliding glass doors had yet to open I could hear the troubled engine and see black smoke coming from the tailpipe. My first thought when I saw it was that I hoped the owner would not shut it off because I figured it would probably be very difficult to restart.

On the other side of the hallway and parallel to the sliding glass doors leading outside is a similar set that is one of the main entrances to the hospital I work at and just as the old van pulled up outside those doors slide apart with a nurse pushing a wheelchair with a very thin and bald teenage boy in it.

This teenage boy looked about the same age as my son but instead of the full and tan face that my son has his was pale and skeletal thin. This child's head was slumped over and while his body was a match for his face his eyes were alert and catching everything around him. A haggard and tired looking man, I will assume was his father, jumped out of the van and quickly walked through the first set of doors to his son. Something was said between the two I missed but the boy smiled and with a gentleness all too uncommon in "normal" life the father picked his son up and carried him outside to the van with the nurse following close behind to open the passenger door. After a couple of bags were loaded up the van, which was never shut off, belched some black smoke as it jerked back into motion and was drove away.

You see a lot of things working at a hospital, most I will never write about for various reasons, but I honestly appreciate those short but revealing glimpses into the lives of others that remind me how damn fortunate I have it at this moment. Needless to say my whining about having to driving my kids around will be muted for a good long while.