Today was a very special day for me. A friend asked me to drive him to the hospital for a special test. I said yes and we made our trip to the hospital. When his name was called to proceed behind the door for his procedure an unusual drama unfolded in front of me in the waiting room. A frail, confused, elderly gentleman in his eighties was brought to the receptionist window via a wheel chair escort. The escort pushed him up to the receptionist window and then left. When the elderly gentleman had concluded his check in procedure the receptionist said to him, "Please move away from the counter." The man raised his arms and responded, "I cant walk and I cant move this wheelchair." The receptionist once again addressed this man and said, "Please move away from the counter you are blocking traffic." There were about ten people sitting in the waiting room and they were closer to this man than I was. I want to say I was shocked when not a one single person came to this mans rescue. At this point, I jumped up from my seat at the opposite end of the room and proceeded to move this man and his wheelchair out of the receptionist area. I asked him if he was alone or if another person had accompanied him to the hospital. He said he had come alone driving his own car. The gentleman was waiting for a print out for his next appointment. The receptionist walked over to this man and handed him the printout and said to him, "have a nice day." Now I ask you, what is wrong with this picture? I once again approached the gentleman and asked him where he wanted to go to next and he said the pharmacy. I walked up to the receptionist and asked her to call wheelchair transport for this man. The wheelchair transport man arrived in about fifteen minutes. I spoke to him and asked him to make sure when this man finished his business in the pharmacy they call for wheelchair assistance once again. The man said that his car was parked in the parking lot and he needed assistance to get to his car. When my friend came back into the reception area I told him my story and to tell the truth I was a little furious. As we were leaving the hospital I remembered that I wanted to find out some information about a special program. The hospital did not have an information person available at this time so I stopped one of the employees in the hospital. The employee said I needed to call a phone number. Another employee over heard our conversation and said that he would take me personally to this department on the third floor. He was such a nice man to go out of his way for a complete stranger, to make sure I received the information I requested. I told him that I had done a good deed that morning and he in return now did a good deed for me. That is how it works ladies and gentlemen. You do not need to write a check to do a good deed. All you need is to look around you, there is always somebody in need that might need a little act of kindness and that kindness will create a circle that will go on forever. Thank you for reading my article. I hope you read all of my other articles; I would love to hear from you. Copyright 2006 Linda Meckler |
