If Life Was Like The Met....

...If life was like The Met then I would have been able to see Edmund this morning. Heidi and I got ready as fast as we could this morning but sometimes it is hard to manage life with pumping, showers, and our herd of pets...not to mention traffic was slow for the 1/2 inch snow we got. So, because we showed up at 6:59, we weren't allowed to go in to see Edmund. It isn't that bad for Heidi because she can see him again at 8, but I won't get to see him again until 5 or later...then we'll have to leave again from 7-8pm and then we'll go home shortly after to attempt getting sleep.

My favorite part was the only thing the charge nurse kept saying was 'those are the rules' 'you know the rules' 'the rules were explained on the paper we gave you.'

Sorry that life happens outside of rules sometimes. Rules (in my experience in public education) sometimes don't make sense and set people up for failure. Instead of one person/student at a time - lets make blanket statements and policies for everything. The logical, more structured side of my brain is telling me "of course the hospital needs policies and it can't be a free for all...blah blah blah." But there is a difference in a free for all and understanding a situation. If the Big Picture Schools can function and be successful and make considerations and allowances within structured and organized manner, so can other institutions. I was so skeptical of how my school would function - to an observer we might be crazy - but it works (so I understand if you have disbelief).

It is all reminding me of almost every public school statement (and every teacher philosophy used to get a job!) that says stuff about wanting to engage parents (or now the buzz word is invested stakeholders) and how they will do active learning to prepare people for tomorrow....and really it is just business as usual and parents are never really engaged (and probably intentionally kept at bay.) So the hospital wants to be family care centered - something like that - but really it is just business as usual. I know the world and my life is not like the Met - but I'm fortunate to work at a place (The Indianapolis Metropolitan High School / Goodwill of Central Indiana) that is flexible and understand that life doesn't always happen like it is supposed to.

I think I am done venting. This is just another layer of my frustration with "The Man/Big Brother/Institutions." I am not mad with the nurses (although she could have been a little less cold) just at the policies she must uphold.

I must get back to work and join my co-workers in another round of Kum Ba Ya and Why Can't We Be Friends. ;-)
Dennis