Tuesday, May 24, 2005
911 What is your emergency?
Caller: I am calling because a woman was just injured at the café I am sitting in and she might need medical assistance.
Operator: What is the emergency?
Caller: We were sitting outside at tables with umbrellas overhead, and it became a bit windy. The wind blew over one of the umbrellas and it hit an elderly lady on the head. She does not look good.
Operator: What? Why would someone hit an old lady on the head with an umbrella?
Caller: No. You don’t understand. Picture a patio with a table and chairs. Now picture a table with chairs, the table has a hole in the middle of it. A giant umbrella is placed in the hole in table in order to provide shade for those who sit at that table.
Operator: Oh I see. Now are you saying someone took that table umbrella out of the hole and hit the lady on the head?
Caller: (exasperated now) No! The WIND blew the umbrella over and the umbrella hit the lady on the head!
Operator: Hold on. You have the wrong department.
New Operator: 911 What is your emergency?
Caller: Sigh… We were sitting outside at tables with umbrellas overhead, and it became a bit windy. The wind blew over one of the umbrellas and it hit an elderly lady on the head. She does not look good.
Operator: Okay, is she conscious?
Caller: Yes, but not responding verbally.
Operator: We are sending someone over.
Caller: Thank you!
Paramedics arrive and sit at the table with the injured elderly lady. They question her and assess her injury. After 20 minutes, they decide she will be fine and move to leave. The caller at the café asks one of the paramedics about calling 911. “Why was it so difficult to get help for this lady”? Paramedic tells the caller it is because the caller used her cell phone. Anytime there is a 911 call from a cell phone it is automatically directed to Highway Patrol as it is thought to be a traffic incident. Once they determine that it's not related to traffic, they re-route the call to regular operators.
Make a note to yourself…Calling for help that is not traffic related from a cell will delay your response time. In the meantime, pray that you will never need to make that call...
Crabs in a Barrel
I know you have heard that saying before. Referencing the sad fact that some people are just like crabs in a barrel. What happens when you catch crab and put them in a bucket or barrel, their survival instinct turns on and some of them will try to escape, try to climb out of that situation back to freedom. The crabs below see that and having no hope for their own survival or escape, they pull those freedom seeking survivalists back down into the mire with them. Some people are like those crabs… unfortunately, some people I know are this way. Thankfully not many…
Exhibit A
Black Woman is offered a promotional position and accepts. Soon thereafter, she finds out that one of her colleagues, dare I say “friends” was in competition with her for this position. Woman tells her friend (who is also Black) the exciting news looking for celebration. Instead her friend tells her that she is not really qualified for the position and the only reason Woman got this offer is because they were looking for a certain “image”. Not because of any particular gift or talent or level of experience. Woman is not really qualified according to friend and the offer should have gone to her. Even though Woman has worked for 15 years climbing and reaching for something better. Went back to school to earn her MBA. Something that the friend had not done, yet feels superior.
Little crab in the barrel pulls down on the little crab leg of one climbing up on its own hard work and effort.
Exhibit B
Black Woman, who has earned her PhD and now works with high level administrators in an education setting, uses the Dr. title that she has earned. What audacity! Black colleague in association with other non-Black colleagues demean and denigrate Black Woman behind her back. They ask themselves and each other, “Who is she to demand that we address her as Dr.?” “What did she get her degree in anyway?” “She must think she is special when all she really is a secretary or something”. “She is just a stuck up bitch, or should I say Dr. Bitch”.
Insidious.
Rather than rejoicing in the success and achievements of others, these people sit comfortably in their corners passing judgment and defiling character. They go to church every Sunday praising their Lord, so they can start fresh on Monday with new deeds to commit against those in their path. All the while they smile and have coffee with you, asking how they can assist, give you a hand. Never take the hand of a “crab”.
Exhibit A
Black Woman is offered a promotional position and accepts. Soon thereafter, she finds out that one of her colleagues, dare I say “friends” was in competition with her for this position. Woman tells her friend (who is also Black) the exciting news looking for celebration. Instead her friend tells her that she is not really qualified for the position and the only reason Woman got this offer is because they were looking for a certain “image”. Not because of any particular gift or talent or level of experience. Woman is not really qualified according to friend and the offer should have gone to her. Even though Woman has worked for 15 years climbing and reaching for something better. Went back to school to earn her MBA. Something that the friend had not done, yet feels superior.
Little crab in the barrel pulls down on the little crab leg of one climbing up on its own hard work and effort.
Exhibit B
Black Woman, who has earned her PhD and now works with high level administrators in an education setting, uses the Dr. title that she has earned. What audacity! Black colleague in association with other non-Black colleagues demean and denigrate Black Woman behind her back. They ask themselves and each other, “Who is she to demand that we address her as Dr.?” “What did she get her degree in anyway?” “She must think she is special when all she really is a secretary or something”. “She is just a stuck up bitch, or should I say Dr. Bitch”.
Insidious.
Rather than rejoicing in the success and achievements of others, these people sit comfortably in their corners passing judgment and defiling character. They go to church every Sunday praising their Lord, so they can start fresh on Monday with new deeds to commit against those in their path. All the while they smile and have coffee with you, asking how they can assist, give you a hand. Never take the hand of a “crab”.
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
East meets West
Ouch. I thought to myself. “They said this would not hurt”.
Okay. I am going to slide another in. Now let me know if it stings. It should ache, but it should not sting or really be painful. Let me know if anything is uncomfortable for you.
Actually, this entire experience is just a little uncomfortable. New…and admittedly a bit exciting But I tend to like new, exciting and sometimes uncomfortable things. Isn’t that why I keep taking new jobs? Where I am miserable at first, then excited at all I think I am learning..then ultimately bored and looking for something else. Isn’t that why I do strange things like bungee jumping? Whitewater rafting? Camping in the wilderness? Dating men from Africa? Driving in LA?
Okay. That one did not hurt…but it does ache. Now I feel it. Is that good? Or does it mean I have lots of work to be done? More likely the latter. My mind is going a million miles a minute. She said to try and relax. Here on this table, in a medical gown, needles protruding from my arms, legs, feet. I am trying not to move so that I don’t jiggle the needles further into my skin. Breathe. I must keep breathing.
Actually, this is not so painful. I mean I do feel it, but it doesn’t hurt per se. She has left the room now. Left me to my own thoughts..feelings. When she left, she told me to go to a place that relaxes you and makes you feel good. I did. The first place that came to mind was a Sunday morning in bed with Harvard… Cool and breezy… relaxed and just being together under the covers, talking about our families..our future. Cracking jokes and just being together with no pretenses. It was wonderful. That is where I was when suddenly I started crying, What the heck was this all about? I am in good place in my mind. It must be these needles. But how? Whatever..it is passing now.
When she returns I realize that I have taken my mind to a different scene. The beach at sunset always seems to work for me and it did again. When she spoke, she told me that she did a journey on me. Huh? Well I am a Shaman as well, she says. You gave me permission to do a journey on you, remember. I did. She said she lifted a block from my chest and from my back. Maybe that is why I cried. I had a burden relieved without my knowledge. She twisted the needles and chatted with me while. Umph. I felt the twists.
But now I was focused on the journey. She asked me about a fire. Was I involved in a fire when I was young? Not that I know of. “How about your mother? Maybe when she was pregnant with you?” Hmmmm. Good question. I will ask. She said I should, but it could also be symbolic.
Dressed now and talking about my first experiences with acupuncture and Shamanism, she tells me that this is where it gets to be fun. I get to be my own detective. To search for reasons why this asthma has gripped for a lifetime. Was it that my soul was not ready to come into this life? Stifled … Oppressed. Repressed.. Or was it simply allergies that manifested into a disease?
How do you feel?
I feel lighter, I said. Good. Let’s schedule your next appointment.
I am not sure how this will make a difference in my life…my daily living, but I know that it will. It already has. If nothing else, this is one of the most positive environments I have been in of late. My acupuncturist gives positive feedback as she slides those needles under my skin. I feel valued and important. Someone has recognized something good in my being and has let me know.
That in itself is making a difference
Okay. I am going to slide another in. Now let me know if it stings. It should ache, but it should not sting or really be painful. Let me know if anything is uncomfortable for you.
Actually, this entire experience is just a little uncomfortable. New…and admittedly a bit exciting But I tend to like new, exciting and sometimes uncomfortable things. Isn’t that why I keep taking new jobs? Where I am miserable at first, then excited at all I think I am learning..then ultimately bored and looking for something else. Isn’t that why I do strange things like bungee jumping? Whitewater rafting? Camping in the wilderness? Dating men from Africa? Driving in LA?
Okay. That one did not hurt…but it does ache. Now I feel it. Is that good? Or does it mean I have lots of work to be done? More likely the latter. My mind is going a million miles a minute. She said to try and relax. Here on this table, in a medical gown, needles protruding from my arms, legs, feet. I am trying not to move so that I don’t jiggle the needles further into my skin. Breathe. I must keep breathing.
Actually, this is not so painful. I mean I do feel it, but it doesn’t hurt per se. She has left the room now. Left me to my own thoughts..feelings. When she left, she told me to go to a place that relaxes you and makes you feel good. I did. The first place that came to mind was a Sunday morning in bed with Harvard… Cool and breezy… relaxed and just being together under the covers, talking about our families..our future. Cracking jokes and just being together with no pretenses. It was wonderful. That is where I was when suddenly I started crying, What the heck was this all about? I am in good place in my mind. It must be these needles. But how? Whatever..it is passing now.
When she returns I realize that I have taken my mind to a different scene. The beach at sunset always seems to work for me and it did again. When she spoke, she told me that she did a journey on me. Huh? Well I am a Shaman as well, she says. You gave me permission to do a journey on you, remember. I did. She said she lifted a block from my chest and from my back. Maybe that is why I cried. I had a burden relieved without my knowledge. She twisted the needles and chatted with me while. Umph. I felt the twists.
But now I was focused on the journey. She asked me about a fire. Was I involved in a fire when I was young? Not that I know of. “How about your mother? Maybe when she was pregnant with you?” Hmmmm. Good question. I will ask. She said I should, but it could also be symbolic.
Dressed now and talking about my first experiences with acupuncture and Shamanism, she tells me that this is where it gets to be fun. I get to be my own detective. To search for reasons why this asthma has gripped for a lifetime. Was it that my soul was not ready to come into this life? Stifled … Oppressed. Repressed.. Or was it simply allergies that manifested into a disease?
How do you feel?
I feel lighter, I said. Good. Let’s schedule your next appointment.
I am not sure how this will make a difference in my life…my daily living, but I know that it will. It already has. If nothing else, this is one of the most positive environments I have been in of late. My acupuncturist gives positive feedback as she slides those needles under my skin. I feel valued and important. Someone has recognized something good in my being and has let me know.
That in itself is making a difference
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