Ten-Finger Exercises

Dis n dat with sadness

We're running out of social workers. Arlene, whose house burned down, is doing well, but she's grieving, and that slows her down. One of the other three is ill, possibly something serious. That puts extra pressure on Arlene. And one I'll call Gertie blew up today at the boss. Yesterday she thought she had been insulted by a nurse, and she had a fit about it. She's good at her job, fun and interesting, but can't control her temper evidently. The boss said she was afraid Gertie might blow up like that at a difficult patient or family member. I disagreed. I think she'd be professional with a client. The boss countered that she should be professional at work too, and of course that's true. Yes, that's true. Her blowups seem very childish.

Gertie had been made the official bereavement counselor, instead of having each social worker following up with her own patients. That's a common thing to do in a hospice, I hear, and it seemed to be working well. Today she got mad and quit. She told me there was a county job open that paid $1,000 more/month. She was told to put it in writing if she meant it. I don't know if she did or not, but I'm sorry this has happened. If she didn't quit, she probably will soon.

It brings my own stuff back to me. I lost my job last November, after 17 years, because I had a new boss who was in way over her head, didn't know what she was doing, and was paranoid besides. She did everything she could to get me to quit. She was hired the day my mother died, and all her pushing and threats brought out the worst in me too. I didn't blow up as badly as Gertie did, but I did get angry and several times cried, and "disrupted a staff meeting" (of three people) by protesting that I couldn't do what she was demanding.

It was very different behavior from me, unlike any way I'd ever acted before, and she pushed it for all she was worth. What was strange was that I actually kind of liked her, and she liked me too. She had a funny sense of humor. But she told stories, way beyond what could reasonably be believed (Sure Notre Dame had offered her a staff position to teach electron microscopes, even though she didn't have any college degree. And sure she turned them down.) (Sure she was a licensed practicioner of reiki without even knowing what it is!) I was incensed with her behavior and her lies.

I guess the circumstances of our outbursts were very different. I feel for Gertie though.
When I first went there, she had just had a purple streak put in her hair. She wore it for several months, but it was always bluer than she wanted. She is a free spirit. And I'll miss her.

On a lighter note.
Here's my On My Way to Work haiku.


Uphill from the road,
Horse stands, head over the fence,
Watching cars go by.

Or, what's the humorous kind of haiku called? I can't remember.


Music in the air:
I hear a tango playing.
Your cell phone or mine?