UNBELIEVABLE

It’s good to be back at work after a two-week break. The summer session started Monday and although it was a zoo, still was glad to have my job.

There are rules and regulations for just about everything. The student health center at the community college I work at is no exception. There are set guidelines that must be followed. Students must be enrolled in the current semester and have paid the mandatory health fee in order to see a nurse, a doctor, or a counselor, free of charge; or to receive immunizations or other testing for various dollar amounts. Everyone who enters the health center, students and staff alike, must complete the sign-in sheet. Due to the privacy laws, or in other words, HIPAA, the names of those who sign in must be marked out. New patients must fill out three documents—general information, medical history, and sign a consent form giving permission to be treated. Simple. Easy to follow. Quite elementary. Well, apparently not for some people.

Wednesday afternoon a young gentleman (and I use that term loosely) came in and said he was sent by the trainer to see the nurse. Told him to sign in. After checking our records, advised him that a health fee needed to be paid in the cashier’s office first. He became agitated and told me he would pay it afterwards. I again told him our policy. He asked if he could pay it later and that someone else had told him he didn’t have to pay the fee first. We kept playing this song and dance; actually this individual kept questioning everything I said. I told him if he wanted to see the nurse, he would have to pay the fee now. With reluctance he left; but I kept my composure and it wasn’t easy.

One-half hour later we were graced with the presence of Mr. Attitude once again. Told him to sign back in. Mr. A peered down at the sign-in sheet and questioned why his name had been crossed out. Tried to explain the privacy regulations but it fell on deaf ears, and he continued to argue. I told Mr. A I didn’t need his attitude, and he gave it right back to me. Although he denied being a new patient, there was no history on record so I asked Mr. A to complete the necessary forms. He argued that he had already done so and refused to fill out any more. We went round and round again. I made a chart and attached a note of patient’s refusal to fill out the forms as well as his crappy behavior and put the file in the back.

Without the forms there would be no service and the personal trainer was called to come talk to Mr. A. She tried to explain. He just didn’t want to hear it. She went round and round with him but, of course, he was the victim and had done nothing wrong. In a few minutes there was the trainer, the coordinator/head nurse of the center, the office manager, and myself trying to reason with this guy. Nothing was accomplished. Just a waste of time. Mr. A still wouldn’t fill out the forms and left.

What else was there to do but shake our heads. UNREAL!!! Mr. A was as thick headed as they come and apparently has issues with being told what to do. The trainer said this was the first time in 20 years she was ever called to the health center to assist in problems with one of the athletes.

Our office manager always gets involved if she sees her staff being abused and during this time and his earlier visit, she kept turning around, but she realized I was holding my own. Later our health educator teased me by asking if I had anger issues.

All in all, I still love my job and will continue to do so no matter how many jackasses enter through the door.

AMITYVILLE HORROR REVISITED

Have you ever had a feeling that something was wrong, amiss, not quite right, or a twinge in the gut that something dreadful was about to be discovered?

After eating dinner and finishing that nightly ritual of teeth maintenance, walked back into the bathroom for just a minute and don’t always find it necessary to turn on the light. As I turned to leave, my left barefoot felt something moist and wet. Not near the sink. Not near the shower. Not near the hand towel. As a matter of fact, not anywhere you would expect to find a little stray liquid. The first instinct was that it came from the ceiling and stared up as I turned on the light. Nothing noticeable and looked down to see more than half the floor covered in water and most of it accumulated around the toilet and spreading outward. There also was at least an inch of water inside the shower. For the past few weeks the shower had been draining very slowly and thought about taking a wire hanger and fishing out the gunk from the drain but would forget about it until starting to take the next shower. Although I had not used the shower that day, did hear the neighbors using theirs earlier.

The water level continued to double in volume as the gurgling actions bounced back and forth between the shower and the toilet, reminding me of the classic movie but without the green slime. Informed the manager who gave me a beach towel and mop to wipe up the mess and came to take a peek. The water was coming from the wall behind the toilet. Carol flushed my toilet and the water rose and stopped just before it overflowed. After checking next door, Carol advised that their toilet had indeed run over and the tub was full of water. She had my neighbor plug up the tub so the water in my shower would stop rising.

Unfortunately, I was told the plumber would not be coming until the next morning around 8, 9, or 10. So, where does one go to alleviate? Although Carol thought it would be okay to use the toilet, I wasn’t going to take a chance. Luckily I had two places to go—my parents or the church building. Church was closer and thought about staying and sleeping on a pew but came home, went to sleep and repeated the process at 1:30 am and again at 5:00 before going to walk. Went to play a little tennis and to get milk at Ralph’s and upon my return noticed the water level in the shower would soon be trickling out onto the floor. Spent a little time bailing out water and pouring it into the sink. Now I could somewhat understand the misfortune of those people whose houses flood during natural disasters.

By the time the plumber arrived, I had to bail out water two more times. The plumber snaked out the pipes from the rooftop as well as the showers and was surprised that he had not been called out last night. The owner had obviously thought it could wait, but whom is he kidding—it would have cost more money. What a cheapskate!