The beauty of working where I do is that it really puts your own life in perspective. You think your crazy? Talk to the woman standing in the middle of the yard waiting for the spaceship to come and beam her up. I mean, seriously. With their imaginations, some of these women should be writing scripts for Hollywood. It's great! I'm never without a sufficient supply of entertainment.

So I come into work my first day back, and talking to my boss, I find out that we have one woman staying with us that may turn very violent at the drop of a hat, and we need to be on guard. FABULOUS! Exactly what I want to hear. Not only that, but I find out the reason for the violence is because she is paranoid skitsophrenic, and obeys the voices in her head, also, she has been out for a couple nights, and hasn't been taking her meds which would prevent the violent outbursts! Wow! And I haven't got by Non-violent Crisis Intervention training yet! But of course, like most people with a severe mental illness, she doesn't believe she has a problem. So, extra precautions are taken, never be in a room alone with her, never close the door if you are, when taking meds, make sure she shows you that there is nothing left in her mouth and actually swallows them in your presence...You know, that old chesnut. Now I'm on night shift, that's even better! I love my job, really....

Some of my favorite sayings/stories coming out of my workplace

"There ain't nothing wrong with me that a bullet wouldn't cure!"

"The Americans learning biological warfare, and spraying everything that comes from America into Canada with a toxin that puts everyone in the hospital and will eat away at your skin, and then they'll be able to take over Canada. The doctors haven't been able to find the toxin yet though, it's undetectable"

"Excuse me, I have to go out and wait for the aliens to come and get me and take me away in their spaceship. It's a full moon and they always come on a full moon. I have to go now b/c he's trying to take over the ship."

"I've been staying on the beach. There is a black panther that follows me around and protects me. He eats all the other bad cats that try to attack me."
Staff: "Is he with you right now?"
"Yes, of course, can't you see him? Oh well, I guess not, he can go invisible sometimes"

WOW, I love my job.

Song of the day: I'll Cover You - Rent, the musical. Written by Jonathan Larson

posted by Tennille @ 12:48 AM

2 Comments:

At 2:05 AM, Lucas said…

woohoo! new post!
I just listened to that song, btw.
Your work is so interesting, to say the least. I'm sure there are days when you just want to bury your head in the sand like everyone else does with work, but you're making a difference to the people there, even if that isn't always easy to see.
At 6:53 AM, Anonymous said…

LOL!! I'm glad you can see the humorous side of work. It will save you from becoming one of 'them'! :)