Wonderful Blessings

As everyone who has read my blog knows, I’m a Katrina Survivor.  I had 8.5 ft of water in my home for three weeks which, pretty much destroyed everything.  While gutting the house, I found my wedding video from my first marriage, it was in a case but, sitting in all of that muck for so long, I thought it was ruined.  I just didn’ t have the heart to throw it away so, I kept it.  I don’t really remember how long I let it sit upstairs before I decided to play it but, when I did, it didn’t work.

Still, I didn’t have the heart to throw it away. Even though I wasn’t with that person anymore, the wedding ceremony was beautiful and the reception was off the chain, we had so much fun, and it had all of my family and friends on there…many who are no longer with me so, I put it in my hall closet and there it sat for three years.

Three days ago, I was clearing out some things in that closet and ran across the video.  I just stared at it and then said to myself with resignation, “I may as well throw it away now” and walked to the trash can holding the video in my hand when something said to me, “play it.”

I have learned to listen to that “little voice” that speaks to me so, I went into the bedroom and put the tape in the VHS player (yeah, I still use the dinosaur)  and sadly pressed the play button.

It played but was doing a hell of a lot of  “auto tracking”  so you couldn’t make anything out…..

FOR THE FIRST 5  SECONDS!!!!

 The rest of the tape plays beautifully!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was so wonderful to watch, I got to see my mother again…living, breathing, talking, laughing, and 2nd-lining at her baby’s girls wedding.  Baaaby, she was strutting like a peacock that day.

Ok, she thought her you know what didn’t stink…let me keep it real.

So many friends and relatives that have passed on are on that tape,….uncles, aunts, cousins…my best friend who died at 35 to breast cancer that, it was very emotional for me to watch but, I made it through.  I wasn’t sad, in fact, I was so happy to be able to see them again that, that’s what made me so emotional.  Tears of joy are my kind of tears.

My son watched the video (remember he never met his biological father) and he was able to see just how crazy and goofy my ex is.  His reaction when he saw him, ” I look JUST  like him, NOW   I know why I act so crazy.  My son has a wonderful sense of humor like my ex and I.  I’m glad he was able to see him even if just on that video…I think he needed that,and even something as simple as that video, put some things in perspective for him.

I am going to see if I can have it transferred to a DVD and put that copy somewhere where I know it will be safe for my son to have when he is a little older.

I am so grateful for that wonderful blessing…that one little tape means so much when you have so little in terms of  tangible memories.

But mostly,I am proud of myself for being able to hear God and listen to him when he whispered “play it” in my ear.

Oh Lawd, She Beat Her Ass With The Mop!

I don’t know why but, I always seem to be a witness to some “goings-on.”  A woman  I know who is the Administrator at an extended-care facility, asked me to come by her to be the weekend supervisor and make some “easy money.”   All I had to do was make sure that, everyone does their job and if there is a medical crisis, that’s when I kick in.  There rarely is a crisis.  The thing about nurses is, no matter how much money they are making, they are always looking to make more so, naturally, I said yes.

Well, I am tee-tottering around, watchingthe nurses give their assignments out to the certified nursing assistants (cna’s) and this one LPN is sticking out to me.

I feel the storm beginning to stir….just like Katrina.

She’s talking to her CNA’s like this;

HEY JAMILLA, YOU NEED TO GET MR. FOSTER UP NOW!

WHERE IS MS STERN?!!!

I AM NOT FOR THIS THIS MORNING!!!!!!

She apparently got her LPN from the Louisiana College of Ghetto Nurses because she was riding the hell out of the workers and talking straight crazy to them.

Now, if there is one thing I do have it’s, exceptional assessment skills and I am just checking this out and I am thinking to myself….

Ok, let’s go to DEFCON 3 because, most of these CNA’s come from the Calliope project and I have a feeling a storm is brewing.

Well, Jamilla went along doing her work and to be honest, she was really quite quiet while ghetto nurse was tripping on her help.

The calm before the storm.

Ghetto nurse told Jamilla, “LOOK, YOU NEED TO GET THOSE PEOPLE UP..IF YOU DON’T WANT TO WORK, CLOCK OUT!!

 Now mind you, the workers were doing their job, they just weren’t  doing it as fast as SHE wanted it done.

I look at Jamilla who is still pretty quiet but, her eyes are welling up with tears.

Now, my spidey-senses have kicked in full blast now…RED ALERT!…RED ALERT!….RED ALERT!….CAT 5 STORM GETTING READY TO HIT!

And before I could even move to take Jamilla out of the area, she walks over to a bucket that has this industrial size mop in it (the kind with the thick, long handle),and while brisk walking to the bucket I hear her say rather softly…

I am sick of you with your shit today.

Proceeded to take the mop out of the bucket, turn it upside down and…

BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF GHETTO NURSE!!!

I mean she was crying, talking and wailing on her all at the same time…with every word you heard a bop with the mop handle..

I *bop* AM *bop* SICK *bop* OF *bop* YOUR *bop* F*ing *bop* SHIT *bop**bop**bop*

Now, ghetto nurse who is getting tagged in the worst way, starts screaming for help…which would have been cool if, she got along with the nurse she was calling on to help her…

ghetto nurse:  Shelita!! Help me!! Help! Help!

Shelita: *looking all around herself*  I don’t know what she’s calling me for,  humph.

But wait…it only gets better..

I tell the cna’s to go call the security guard.

The security guard who is a female, looks the situation over and says, “I’m not getting into that.”….and walks off to call 911.

I call some of my male cna’s from the other unit and they broke the beat down up.

Now, we are waiting for the po-pos to arrive.  I have taken Jamilla into the office and she is balling like crazy….come to find out that, her mother is deathly ill and her mom is the only support she has to help her with her kids.

She came to work with all of this on her back and ghetto nurse was riding it.

New Orleans finest finally arrive and Jamilla goes to jail.

Ghetto nurse goes to the emergency room.

I have been a firm believer that, you never know what frame of mind someone shows up to work in.   There usually is a reason why people go “postal” and all it takes is the one fool who keeps riding a person for a person to just snap and lose it.  Everyone can’t be in an authoritative position and ghetto nurse is one of those people.  She kept riding someone who mentally, had just had enough.

This economy is stressing everyone out… now add that to the fact that, here in New Orleans, we are still dealing with rebuilding from Katrina and you have a bunch of people in a city who are about as “shell-shocked” as you can get. 

 People have lost everything they ever owned, family members, friends, neighborhoods and some have rebuilt only to lose their jobs and homes because of the economy.  

Everyone should protect their mental health just as they would their physical.  Don’t let the stress pile up on you until it releases itself in a way that it lands you in jail because,

the mind really is a terrible thing to waste.

*update-  Jamilla is out of jail, ghetto nurse has a broken arm and ironically enough, did not press charges.  I had a shitload of paperwork to do.