Nurse's Week 2020 "Pin the Tail on the Donkey"


You know that game we played at kindergarten bday parties  where we were blindfolded,  spun around, and then had to try to pin a tail on some donkey? I was never a fan and felt my belly go in knots and nausea in my throat when the spinning stopped.
"Which way is the donkey?"
 "What if I pin the tail on the face?"
 "Why am I so wobbly? "
"Why are people laughing?"
" What if I trip and fall down and get hurt?"
" What if I cry?"
" What if I hurt someone else?"
"  Hey, I just came for cake and opening presents anyways! Do I really have to play???"

The last few months we have ALL been playing a version of "Pin the Tail on the Donkey", except the name of this game is:
 "Wear this mask, lock yourself in your panic room, stop working,  quit socializing, AND take some Imodium so you don't have to wipe your butt so much with a leaf".
" Who do I pin this tail on(blame)?"
"I am dizzy from the changing rules."
" Why are some people laughing?"
" Why are more people crying?"
"What if I have to work?"
"What if I can't work and we starve?"
"Will I get sick and die? "
"Will I get my family sick?"
" What if I accidentally expose someone else?"
"Hey, I just came to eat cake and open presents!!!"

I know I am NOT the only one feeling wobbly playing this game. The whole thing has been, well, disorienting! The definition of the word "novel" in front of the word virus really means new or unknown. Everyone, including the host,  at this party is blindfolded and we are all trying to find the donkey to pin (or blame) at the same time. We bump into each other, we try to guess which way to go. Sometimes we even fall or hurt someone else.

In the middle of my gameplay today, though, I might have had an epiphany.  I was just coming out of anesthesia after a minor procedure and I was, let's just say, not the sharpest tack in the drawer! I put my holey yellow underwear (don't pick out clothes in the dark) on backward and lost one of my socks under the gurney. I was really wobbly trying to find the stupid sock under the bed. Suddenly I hear a sweet voice behind the curtain said, "Hey, I see it! Let's put it on together.  After putting the socks on my feet the nurse expertly guided my elbow on the way to the bathroom.  Not trusting my ataxic movements, she made it seem like we were old girlfriends on the way to the powder room. She joked and made pleasant small talk the whole way there.  When I got back to the wheelchair she didn't miss a beat and did the thing I was most worried about...she tied my shoes all the while speaking about sneakers.  This was the hostess with the mostest!  Even when she pulled my holey underwear out of the bag. Even when I put them on backward. Even when I lost my sock. Even when I couldn't go potty by myself! This unknown woman was delighted to help me.


 It took being a patient again for me to realize not only do I have the best job in the world, but I also work with the best people in the world!  Maybe the last couple of months have stretched us all.  Maybe we are all still worried we will be stuck in masks or blindfolds; dizzy trying to pin the blame somewhere.  But today I saw and received human compassion. My heart was touched, my blindfold AND mask fell as I dropped my sharp pin.  And that feeling, my friends, of letting go just might be better than presents and cake!




Sculpture by Gene Goodwin.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

It Came Upon A Midnight Clear

The presents, the stockings and rising early before the sun rose up trying to see Santa are all beloved memories from my youth. I LOVED Christmas and bought into the whole North Pole fantasy without a second thought. To a child, the magic and promise  of "good things happening to the world" was not so hard to buy into. Fresher from heaven and angels, as a child, I did not think it was unusual for one man to load up his sleigh and visit every single house on Christmas Eve.  Of course he knew my name and every other child's name on earth. I did not have trouble believing in a babe that was born in a manger either.  Why wouldn't the donkeys, sheep and cattle surround that place and worship their Heavenly King?The thought of a salutory star rising in the Eastern sky,   guiding wisemen and sheperds made perfect sense. As the years have passed , my childlike faith has been replaced not so much with doubt, but with its bed-fellow fear.  The trials of the mortal j...
Read more

The leaf

Tears have spilled over onto my soggy pillowcase. Their damp, unwanted presence seep into my dream and interrupt my subconscious wanderings. I rub my sleep weary eyes in an attempt to reorient myself in time.  Where am I ? In my last thought I was old and then in the next scene I was young. My body turns and morphs somewhere to an inbetween indeterminate age.  "This is so silly, why can't my body make up it's mind if I'm young, old or somewhere in between?" And then , "Because you are all of those things! You are young, you are old, and not only in between,  you are eternal!" "Oh of course I am!Mr. Sandman!!Ok, if that's possible then take me back to the place where my kids were little, cuz that was the hardest yet best time of my life! So I teleported, actually Dave drove me in our old teal dodge van  which suddenly had the magical properties of a time machine, complete with the messy food stained carseats. We flew back to the beautiful wh...
Read more

Rain in the desert

Image
It rained last night and there is no better thing to a parched desert floor. Dust swirls up and meets the rain and combines into wondrous mud. Previously dirt-strewn roads are suddenly clean and shiny. Small puddles of mirrored water become impromptu baths for desert fowl or swimming pools for Jessie's tiny toes. I did not miss this delightful morning because I actually had a day off! Going through the papers in Jessie's backpack I am confounded that the pile of notices from the school has mysteriously multiplied overnight. How does this happen? I unfold a pink paper and I realize I am going to miss the Mom's and Muffins again ... working that day too. Dani says " Who's going to help Jessie remember her "dance moves" when she tries out for the talent show? Aren't you working that day too?" I stop a moment and wonder how I was able to participate so much more in the past with my children in their schooling. I already know the answer and I sta...
Read more