today i worked the activity center at the old folks home (which when translated literally actually is "old people daycare"), on my own for the first time. went well.
i think i remembered all the things i was supposed to do throughout the day.
was told several times i was made for the job. (it includes: serving coffee, twice; setting the table and serving lunch; serving drinks at 'borrel' time; playing endless games of rummikub; pasting cut-outs onto cards and making them look pretty so the old ladies can boast about their cardmaking abilities to the happy recipients; helping old ladies in an out of their chairs and occasionally helping them in the bathroom; pushing wheelchairs to and from the hairdresser; smiling alot and listening to the same stories for the third, fourth, fiftieth time...).
the taxi was late picking up some of the ladies. lots of grumbling.
just about lost my cool when i couldn't figure out which of the 7 listed taxi services i was supposed to call to find out where the hell they were with 11 old ladies offering kind suggestions in the background...figured it out, called, complained in a chipper voice, then heard the ladies hollering that he was there before i could finish saying "well, it can happen to anyone...".
and finally headed home, exhausted.
apparently coffee, cookies and rummikub suck the energy right out of you.
bought some haring and onions on the way home to revive me. yumm!
8 years ago
6 comments:
So the question is, after working there, would you ever choose to live in a place like that? I don't know why, but I've been thinking about that lately (I mean if I would ever want to live in an old folks home/old people daycare - if it was even a choice I mean).
not really. but most of the people who live there really can't make it on their own any more. they need quite a bit of care. i never want to get to that point...but if i do get to that point, i suppose a place like this would not be so bad. they seem to care about the people and treat them with respect. at that point, that's probably one of the most important things you could want.
indeed... funny story though. my wife was in france and they could not find a pharmacy to get them medication for cold sores. People offered them lip balm over and over again. finally her dad was showing a lady the problem and she said "oh herpes!" and they got some meds. I hope you find a job that's the "right fit"
haha! that's a great story. :)
haring, eh? Into that now?
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