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I Should�ve Taken That Left Turn at Albuquerque |
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Hello and welcome. If you're new here, be a dear and Read my Disclaimer. My diary not good enough for you? Fine, be that way. Try these instead: plf
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2001-08-07 - 8:40 p.m.� One of my clients died over the weekend. I never met her in person, but I talked to her over the phone pretty much evey week. She had a hard life. Health problems, shitty family life, but she never complained. She was always thankful for the services we provided to her, and she always had a kind word for me. A few of my volunteer drivers refused to take her to her appointments. I always had to be careful when I was scheduling volunteers for her. She was apparently an extremely large woman. While some of the volunteers refused to take her for perfectly legitimate reasons (ie- they could not physically support her weight to assist her to and from their car), but there were a few volunteers who refused her for stupid, mean reasons. One volunteer told me that he was afraid he would ruin the shocks on his car. Another told me that he was afraid she'd rip the door off the car when she pulled on it to hoist herself out of the car. How she could ever have had the strength to pull a door off a car was a mystery to me, considering she was on oxygen and could barely summon the energy to take care of herself. One volunteer laughed as he was reported how much trouble he had helping this woman, and begged us to send another driver, his buddy, to pick her up next time, as a great big joke. This poor woman, diabetic, asthmatic, and lonely, was a joke to him because among her other problems, she was also morbidly obese. She never complained. I complain bitterly I am having asthma trouble. I complain and whine when my shoes give me blisters. I complain when it's too hot or too cold outside. This woman didn't complain when she fell out of bed and no one found her and helped her up for a day and a half. She didn't complain when doctors told her they would likely have to amputate her foot due to diabetes. She didn't even complain when I told her that I couldn't promise her a ride until I checked to make sure that one of the drivers who was free that day could "accomodate her." She never once said that it wasn't fair that we sometimes had to refuse service to her because of her weight. And you know what? It wasn't fair. She didn't choose her life. No one chooses to be fat. I never once stood up for her. I worked my ass off to make sure that I could get her service nearly every time she needed it, and I think I did pretty well for her. But even though I got angry every time someone refused to drive her, I never said anything. It doesn't matter much now. She's gone, and she won't have to deal with this kind of crap anymore. She's been all I've been able to think about all day though.
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The big 3 0 - 2006-06-03 Hello again - 2006-05-03 Random stuff in place of an actual update - 2006-03-15 Pictures. Just Because. - 2006-02-23 Christmas 05 - 2005-12-26 Currently listening to: |
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