Meanwhile, back at stately Wade Manor...

[davywavy]

Today I made a belated and probably futile attempt to pay off some of my outstanding karmic debt by donating several hundred back copies of 2000AD to the childrens wing at the local hospital (whether this counts as an act of charity is debatable; they were from the early 1990's - easily 2000AD's creative nadir). From my readings of Dickens, I'd been lead to believe that Childrens hospitals were crammed with pale, consumptive orphans on tap to be wheeled out to make touching and teary-eyed speeches of thanks to the man from the Big House who had deigned to show them charity before they expire in a picturesque way.
The sordid reality instead seems to consist of buzzcutted twelve year-olds either with a selection of newly inflicted injuries (either self inflicted or from the fight outside the pub last night), or in for their methadone prescription, or the poor thin girl I can only assume was there for her pre-partum examination from the size of her dress.
I'm not sure whether any of them'll be interested in reading comics like I was when I was 12.
(Why didn't I end up like the other kids from this town? I went to the same school, I grew up on the same street...how come I'm not now going cold turkey or serving 5 years for GBH like everyone else in my class at school? It's an abiding mystery to me.)

Depressing social reality aside, I've had a great week. The parents are on holiday, I've not been at work, and so I've been looking after what we call Stately Wade Manor (as in 1960's Batman: "Meanwhile, at Stately Wayne Manor, Bruce Wayne and his charge Dick Grayson are discussing the Penguin..."). Sadly we don't have a batcave or even any firemens poles, but we do have a well-stocked fridge and lots of countryside nearby for walking in.

Hope you're all well. A week on my own leaves me feeling very mellow and well-disposed to humanity, but I think that we can expect that to change pretty rapidly when I have to start dealing with people again next week.

Comments

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

Enjoy it while you can.
I'll see you on Saturday.

Definitely enjoy! Well-deserved!

[applez.livejournal.com]

Moreover, I would argue that your current result of positive disposition towards humanity is indicative of just how poor the previous job was eh.

Good luck, much fun!

Children's Wards

[windzswept.livejournal.com]

hmmm... okay, this is coming as someone who grew up in a kids ward, not as a patient but as the daughter of a staff nurse, and now a sister.

Some of the kids on there were normally there for 'normal' things, broken limbs needing traction, appendix ops, tonsil ops etc.

Then you get the rest...

the ones who get brought in so drunk they were found choking on their own vomit, the ones who ODed, attempted suicide and failed, the anorexics and bulimics.

~sighs~

its a hard place to be in every morning before school, its even worse going to find your mum to say bye before heading off and find her looking after your best friend who had been admitted for an OD the night before.

~shrugs~

I personally feel almost nothing for the drunks, they were stupid. The suicidals, yes they were stupid too, but they also need the most help. To be completely honest i feel more for the nurses, the ones who have to put up with seeing this day in and day out, it was bad enough just seeing it every morning. There will be kids who read the comics and really enjoy them, and there will be the people who don't, same in all situations. You did a good thing, Children's Wards really do need stuff like that. I know my mum's ward would be thankful for them, and you should accept it at that, they may never get looked at except by a handful of people, but those people will enjoy them. Children's wards are not the 'romantic' place that everyone thinks they are, they are a place of sadness yes, sadness at how stupid the world is becoming.

I have bizarre views though... I'm still amused at the image of what happened when I was there as a patient and every bed in the 8 bay room I was in was filled by an anorexic, and the girl in the bed next to me, hiding her food in my cupboard and begging me not to tell. I did tell, after dragging myself out of bed on the excuse of "I'm gonna go find out when my mum is due in, she should be here soon" (knowing full well my mum was the staff nurse on duty) and telling her, then walking back in with her. ;o)

She never forgave me, but thankfully i was discharged the following day, and when I was next in she had put on weight again and was on day leave, which was an improvement.

bah...

I'm rambling. I'll shut up.

Just wanted to let you know you did do a good thing.

[puddingcat.livejournal.com]

Are you sure it's not more similar to the Manor Farm in Animal Farm than to Wayne Manor? I doubt Bruce Wayne's kitchen wall's falling down...

Re: Children's Wards

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

I wasn't really expecting the kids ward to be a romantic Dickensian place but I do have a reputation as a pompous buffon to maintain, you know :)
Although it makes ones own childhood seem so incredibly innocent in comparison.

Re: Definitely enjoy! Well-deserved!

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

Sadly, no. My current benign disposition toward humanity is as a result of not having to deal with them. I've always been a seething mass of short-tempered intolerance, regardless of work situation :)

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

Animal Farm? We'll have none of that socialist nonsense round here.

[puddingcat.livejournal.com]

But I always thought (regardless of Orwell's intentions) that it did a wonderful job of pointing out just how rubbish Communism is.

Re:

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

Yeah, good point.

Ummm

[applez.livejournal.com]

Animal Farm can be read to equally rubbish capitalism too...so taking the broader interpretation, it targets all ideologies! ;-)

------

Well, having been in a Children's Ward...

[applez.livejournal.com]

...as a patient, I must say my experience was a bit of a mix.

There were some children who could exercise great priviledge, even though they were just there for their tonsils.

Others, like me, were on IV drip (yum! yum!) and bed-ridden ... 'could I have some more pain-killer with that saline, thank you Nurse Savage (yes, her real name)'

Still others, had parents who were never around, so clinged to anyone who would pay them any attention...sad really.

Not quite the vision of Dickensian purgatory, but neither was it 'normal' or pleasurable.

[ex-boog351.livejournal.com]

wrt Orwell's intentions, his aim was to show how the principles of the revolution were comprimised and the end result was the pigs turning into humans (ie capitalist oppressors) and the farm was as bad if not worse than before. The message I drew from it was that power corrupts and the strong will always seek to dominate the weak.

Plus, the Communists always convinced me what a rubbish ideology it was on their own. Essentially requires a totalitarian regime in order to function in the face of dissent