Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: Lock (03/06/06)
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TITLE: Lockout! | Previous Challenge Entry
By Patrick Verbeten
03/12/06 -
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We were awoken early that day. Mom informed us, “You’re not going to school today. I need your help. Get dressed quickly and grab a bowl of Cheerio’s.” We obediently did as we were told, though we did not understand these adult situations. We discussed our confusion amongst ourselves.
Once in the car Mom began to explain the adventure we were undertaking, “Last night the healthcare aids walked off their jobs. The senior citizens at our nursing home have no one to care for them except for a some nurses and administration staff. I need you to help as well.”
I was terrified. What could a twelve-year-old boy do to help those old people, who frankly frightened me? In my mind I could see myself having to change bedpans, even though I had no idea how it was done. Gross! Would I have to feed one of the crabby ones? I thought, “I’ll probably get stuck with the meanest, crabbiest and fattest old lady.”
Mom brought my thoughts back to reality as we neared the facility. “Soon we will meet up with a sheriff’s escort to take us onto the County Home’s grounds. When we turn onto the property, do not look at the workers who are striking. They are angry and will probably let us know it.”
As promised, the Sheriff’s car settled in front of ours just in time to turn onto the property. I know I wasn’t supposed to look, but I just couldn’t help myself – I had to take a peek. Sheriffs in their stiffly starched brown shirts kept the angry mobs from attacking our light blue Ford Fairlane. They shouted at us – even using bad words- words we were not permitted to use at home. It was a stormy and tense few minutes.
But once inside, the warmth that the home was known for returned. Even though the hospital was woefully understaffed, the workers put on a cheerful face for the benefit of their residents. No doubt, most did not even realize that there was a problem. I was assigned to a floor not too far from where Mom and my sisters were helping. I was helping a male nurse. I had never realized there were male nurses, and now I was assisting one. He was a no-nonsense sort of guy who commanded obedience from his helpers. He realized, though, that at my age I could only master simple task – like being a gopher – and respected my limitations.
I made it through the lunch period without having to feed anyone or having to face a dreaded bedpan. What relief! And then, before the school day was over, the labor impasse ended. First whispers went up and down the halls. Like a fire, it spread quickly from floor to floor. In no time, the doors were unlocked and the workers began to return. Still, there was deep hostility. Not a word was spoken to my sisters or to me by the returning aids. Mom quickly got us out of there. That work stoppage caused hostility for months to come, so she did not bring us back until the hostility wore off.
The next day I was back at school. Few knew of the escapade we experienced the day before. As I sat quietly in my desk for my History lesson, I sensed that somehow I got more history – and education for that matter – than I would have in a week’s worth of classroom lessons.
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