Our new nurse manager is a capable, compassionate, and sassy Southerner with a lot of energy to whip our clinic into a well oiled machine. When I told her that it seemed like the prison nurses had a tough job, she told me that compared to other jobs she had, this one was "a gravy train with biscuit wheels" (except that with a Southern accent it sounds like "wils," which is even funnier. In fact, I have been laughing about this all weekend and every time I see her.) I started thinking that maybe my prison gig is also a gravy train with biscuit wheels and perhaps, in my four weeks left, I should adopt a better attitude. Sure, all my patients are not as pleasant as homemade mashed potatoes, but it's time for a new coping strategy....humor!
There are many funny moments in the prison clinic amidst the drama behind bars. One patient started our visit the other day by recounting a dream she had the night before about bags and bags of chocolate candy. Another patient told me the color red triggered her asthma. I replied, "Good thing I didn't wear red today." She then responded "um, I mean red dye..." (She now reminds me of this every time I see her.) There is a lot of construction on our campus right now withe a few pieces of heavy machinery strewn about. I heard during one lock down, some ladies were holed up in their cell houses looking out the window for the "bobcat," which they believed was loose on the prison campus. While I have seen various wildlife including rabbits and cats running through the yard, the only bobcats I've spotted are made of steel.
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