It's Friday evening and my brain is full.........saturated with conversations, encounters, conflict, hilarity, questions, questions and more questions. It's like............if I read one more thing or think one more thought..........it's all going to come pouring out of my ears.
Remember the Monty Python scene where the couple are sitting in a restaurant full from the meal and the waiter insists that the guy eats "one more wafer........?" After constant badgering, the customer eats the wafer and then explodes?? Well....................
It's been a very busy week that started out great, sagged horribly in the middle and then ended up great again........or at least potentially great. We'll see how it turns out. Consequently, my emotional meter followed the events..........so much for internal monitoring and motivation. I've gone from Pollyanna possibilities to Moaning Myrtle woes right back up to Pollyanna. A tired Pollyanna. If someone didn't know me well, they would probably recommend a good dose of lithium. Fortunately, I am surrounded by people who know me well enough to hand me a glass of wine instead, and let me decompress on my own accord.
This is the longest I have gone (apart from vacation/holiday time) without posting something, and the result is that I feel like I've lost momentum........... temporarily. So, instead of trying to recapture my whole week, I decided
to focus on one tiny sliver............but one that triggered my sense of injustice.
An older gentleman pensioner, Bill was in to meet an Intake worker this week to apply for health coverage so that he could purchase an electric wheelchair. Normally, pensioners are looked after by the federal government, both with a money cheque and a medical card. Wheelchairs are not part of the bargain.
Bill has been physically disabled for many years and yet was able to work until the age of retirement. Previous notes on his case indicated to the Intake worker that I had met with this man before, so she shared came into my office to update his story and to seek my advice. In 1999 when I first met this man, I was overseeing a budget that was set aside to help anyone with a disability purchase equipment etc that would "level the playing field" for them if they decided to continue in a training program, to find work or to even maintain the job that they were in. He was working part-time, and was struggling with his physical health. He needed a scooter to get to and from work and the to use on the job. This was arranged for him and he was able to maintain his job right up until retirement age.
Often I would see him around town buying groceries or heading up the big hill to the malls. His scooter was his lifeline to independence. It became his only means of mobility.........even in the snow! It was covered in accoutrements and had a flag sticking up the back of it. You couldn't miss this eccentric soul.
7 years later, with the scooter still going strong after many tune ups along the way from community organizations, Bill arrived to the office, and struggled to maneouver his way up the ramps etc for his appointment. Bill had aged tremendously. He didn't have the strength to only be using this apparatus to get around. Plus it was big and bulky which made it very difficult to access services. The doctors and occupational therapists that had worked with him over the years talked him into agreeing that a wheelchair would be best for him now.
Unfortunately, some faceless bureaucrat who manages the financial records, who never meets with clients, who has no qualms about sticking her nose into the frontline decision making process despite the fact that she personally has no overriding authority, contacted the Intake worker to inform her that if a wheelchair was approved, Bill would have to hand over his scooter.
It was either or...................scooter or wheelchair...............................
When I was told this, which is absolute utter bullshit given the amount of time that had passed.......I mean I could see that there would be an issue if Bill had received a scooter last month and was now wanting a wheelchair...............well then I would need a pretty good argument from the doctor for the request to be convincing.............when I was told this, I shook my head in disgust.
Together, the Intake worker and I went to bat for Bill. He got his wheelchair and kept his (and I emphasize HIS) scooter. I hope the little administrative bureaucrat, who hides behind her computer, who works everyday like someone pissed on her cornflakes was rattled by our wrath. Unfortunately, I think she has an armour of perceived control and power that can't be infiltrated. She must be one angry and depressed individual. Lonely too.
Yes..........it was a week of vignettes...........clients, friends, events, colleagues, management hassles.................ups and downs, highs and lows...................... but in the end...............Bill continues to live independently. All the other stuff? Minor.
Remember the Monty Python scene where the couple are sitting in a restaurant full from the meal and the waiter insists that the guy eats "one more wafer........?" After constant badgering, the customer eats the wafer and then explodes?? Well....................
It's been a very busy week that started out great, sagged horribly in the middle and then ended up great again........or at least potentially great. We'll see how it turns out. Consequently, my emotional meter followed the events..........so much for internal monitoring and motivation. I've gone from Pollyanna possibilities to Moaning Myrtle woes right back up to Pollyanna. A tired Pollyanna. If someone didn't know me well, they would probably recommend a good dose of lithium. Fortunately, I am surrounded by people who know me well enough to hand me a glass of wine instead, and let me decompress on my own accord.
This is the longest I have gone (apart from vacation/holiday time) without posting something, and the result is that I feel like I've lost momentum........... temporarily. So, instead of trying to recapture my whole week, I decided
to focus on one tiny sliver............but one that triggered my sense of injustice.An older gentleman pensioner, Bill was in to meet an Intake worker this week to apply for health coverage so that he could purchase an electric wheelchair. Normally, pensioners are looked after by the federal government, both with a money cheque and a medical card. Wheelchairs are not part of the bargain.
Bill has been physically disabled for many years and yet was able to work until the age of retirement. Previous notes on his case indicated to the Intake worker that I had met with this man before, so she shared came into my office to update his story and to seek my advice. In 1999 when I first met this man, I was overseeing a budget that was set aside to help anyone with a disability purchase equipment etc that would "level the playing field" for them if they decided to continue in a training program, to find work or to even maintain the job that they were in. He was working part-time, and was struggling with his physical health. He needed a scooter to get to and from work and the to use on the job. This was arranged for him and he was able to maintain his job right up until retirement age.
Often I would see him around town buying groceries or heading up the big hill to the malls. His scooter was his lifeline to independence. It became his only means of mobility.........even in the snow! It was covered in accoutrements and had a flag sticking up the back of it. You couldn't miss this eccentric soul.
7 years later, with the scooter still going strong after many tune ups along the way from community organizations, Bill arrived to the office, and struggled to maneouver his way up the ramps etc for his appointment. Bill had aged tremendously. He didn't have the strength to only be using this apparatus to get around. Plus it was big and bulky which made it very difficult to access services. The doctors and occupational therapists that had worked with him over the years talked him into agreeing that a wheelchair would be best for him now.
Unfortunately, some faceless bureaucrat who manages the financial records, who never meets with clients, who has no qualms about sticking her nose into the frontline decision making process despite the fact that she personally has no overriding authority, contacted the Intake worker to inform her that if a wheelchair was approved, Bill would have to hand over his scooter.
It was either or...................scooter or wheelchair...............................
When I was told this, which is absolute utter bullshit given the amount of time that had passed.......I mean I could see that there would be an issue if Bill had received a scooter last month and was now wanting a wheelchair...............well then I would need a pretty good argument from the doctor for the request to be convincing.............when I was told this, I shook my head in disgust.
Together, the Intake worker and I went to bat for Bill. He got his wheelchair and kept his (and I emphasize HIS) scooter. I hope the little administrative bureaucrat, who hides behind her computer, who works everyday like someone pissed on her cornflakes was rattled by our wrath. Unfortunately, I think she has an armour of perceived control and power that can't be infiltrated. She must be one angry and depressed individual. Lonely too.
Yes..........it was a week of vignettes...........clients, friends, events, colleagues, management hassles.................ups and downs, highs and lows...................... but in the end...............Bill continues to live independently. All the other stuff? Minor.
2 comments:
You fought the "good fight" and you won.... or rather Bill won.... but that's all that matters.
As for the sensory overload, it sounds like you needed someone to draw you a nice bubble bath, supply you with a glass of wine, and tell you to take all the time you needed to soak away the week.
If we had to wait an extra day for you to come up with a brilliant post, so be it. You were doing an important task that needed more attention, and you were winning a war for an unfortunate soul who needed you more at the time.
I slip a gold medal around your neck for your persistance to right a wrong. Boo to the faceless bureaucrat who didn't take time to bother about the background of Bill.
Hi Ellen.
Thanks.
I have to admit, though that this fight was taken on and fought quite quickly in the context of the week. It's just that it stayed with me... Within an hour of finding out about Bill and the Intake worker completing the registration, all was well.
And yet.............other tasks this week took FOVEVER........and were not as satisfying. Well, some were.
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