It’s like the worst vacation spot in the world, but the people make it so much better. The nurses, even some doctors are honestly good people, focused on making people’s lives better. They have somehow learned to accept some of what they see day to day, and carry the emotional load, loaded upon them.
I have had two roommates during my stay, and both were in heartbreaking situation. It’s been more difficult to share in their situations than to deal with my own. Their stories are their own to tell, but both have driven home how important friends and family - our communities are to our sanity. Life and circumstance throw vicious curves, and unfair reality into our lives, some curves and realities more vicious or unfair than others.
Whether we scrape by, or thrive through the challenge is so dependent on the strength of the supporting community. People are survivors, and we may survive alone, but to thrive we need more.
Our irrational ability to keep hope alive, and build into a future that is doomed to be foreshortened, is beautiful and moving in ways that buying a big house/car/vacation/company will never be able to match. From the Shakespearean Tragedy to reality’s more vicious, (and less wordy) bombs, we try to make a mark and a difference. The rich may throw around some money to help people that need it, but creating the scene’s I have witnessed the last few days, are scene’s that money has no relevance to. Scene’s that can only come from sharing each other’s lives and caring about the quality of each minute the people close to you experience. I’m hoping my next roommate involves less emotional breakage.
From my experiences of the last week, Nursing is a job I could never do. I don't have the strength. To my mind it's more important then doctors roles, they just solve the technical problem. Solving, or even just being exposed to the human tragedies and triumphs, day after day would force me to not engage, or explode. So many of the nursing staff still engage, and watch the fundamental unfairness of life's knocks, in a species that is hard wired to respect fairness. The pay imbalance is backwards. Caring for the person that is sick is worth more than the dealing with the illness. Woman's work, so it can't be worth as much or something...about a tenth of my nurses have been men, mind.