Not All Heroes Wear Capes
by Steve West on January 21, 2022
At 11:00 a.m., Brenda called me from the school where she works and told me that she had fallen and was unable to drive home. She needed me to 1) find a second driver for her car, 2) come get her and take her to urgent care and 3) make sure that Olivia is taken care of when she arrives home in an hour. So, I put on my virtual cape and got to work.
For being 30 years-old, Richard has a strange lifestyle. Whether working or not, he sleeps until at least 2 p.m. every day. He didn't work last night so it's especially disturbing to find him still in bed after a hard night's what? Sleepwalking? Studying for a Latin Final? I verbally dragged his ass out of bed and said, "Be ready in fifteen minutes."
I phoned Olivia's caregiver who shortly appeared in my driveway. I gave her the details of what was happening and left Olivia's care in her capable hands.
I warmed the car and Richard arrived within the fifteen minutes deadline with 30 seconds to spare. On the way to Brenda's school, I realized that I didn't know exactly what was wrong with her. I had simply heard, "I need you" and I dropped everything to come to her aid. She told me she had fallen but I knew nothing of the circumstances or the consequences. When we arrived, I serendipitously found a parking spot next to the entrance. It wasn't the main entrance but the door was unlocked and as soon as I entered a staff person asked, "Are you here for Ms. West?" After nodding affirmatively, she gave me quick directions and I was in the nurse's office within two minutes where Brenda sat on a cot with an icepack cooling her shoulder. She got her Workman's Comp paperwork from the nurse, and with a "thank you" nod to her, we sped on our way to the Kaiser Permanente Urgent Care Center. I sent Richard home with Brenda's car.
It turned out that she had tripped over some uneven pavement in the parking lot while doing her supervisory task of getting students on their buses. In her fall, she had skinned her knee (minor) and injured her shoulder (not so minor). She was perhaps the fourth or fifth staff person to trip over the same rough spot and the new Principal was livid. She placed a call to some sad sack Board rep and used some very un-elementary school words demanding re-pavement. Ooooo, make it so, Baby!
The Urgent Care Center was crowded with more cases than I expected. How many poorly paved parking lots could there be? Fortunately, not a single neo-patient was coughing. After waiting for hours, I felt like a January 6 rioter waiting for a court appearance. But she finally was seen, examined, and sent for an x-ray. The x-ray revealed a fracture in the shoulder joint. She was fitted with a sling and a slew of follow-up appointments. Doctor's orders said no working next week which means it'll probably snow again. Six hours later, the virtually caped crusader escorted the damsel in distress home again to the waiting Boy Blunder. I reminded Brenda that she could probably still fix dinner with one arm.
One Reply to Not All Heroes Wear Capes
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Scott Hardie | January 22, 2022
I'm sorry to hear it! I hope that she recovers quickly. She's lucky to have your help.
And speaking of luck, the school is very fortunate that there hasn't been a lawsuit yet if 4-5 people have had the same dangerous fall! At a bare minimum, they should place some traffic cones or signs or something. But yeah, fixing that is a no-brainer, even given the meager budget of a public school.
Good luck to Richard on his big Latin final.