A bit longer post today. I revived  a memory from the time I was employed as a nursing supervisor at Frick Hospital, Mt. Pleasant, Pennsylvania.

Three Bears

During the month of December, three people who would walk to Frick hospital, come inside, and buy food at the cafeteria. They would carry their meals down into the main lobby. They would sit in one corner, eat their food, and watch the television for several hours, a father, son, and girlfriend of the father.

The father was a lean, short man who had a crusty patch on the left side of his forehead. He didn’t cover it with a bandage and the red angry looking wound was open for all to see. Because it was so unpleasant to see, it was rumored that he’d been banned from many of our local restaurants.

His girlfriend and son were on the large size. They were all less than clean. It had become a habit for them to “camp out” in the lobby, eat, and watch television. The area where they sat began to look shabby, worn, and had developed an odor. Although housekeeping would clean the seats, the constant wear began to take its toll. Housekeeping would rotate the chairs to lessen the impact.

I sent e-mails for several weeks, concerned about their presence. I explained that this had become a daily occurrence. I needed an answer what administration wanted me to do. Not only were they wearing out the furniture, but the hospital would have been liable had they become injured while they were “camped” in the lobby.

Near the end of December, I got the okay to ask them to They were not to be in the hospital unless they were there on hospital business. Their visits were always on the afternoon shift. Other management members had already gone and I was assigned the task.

The next evening, they bought food, and claimed “their” corner. They finished their meal, planning to watch television. I called one of our security officers when I approached them. Any time there could be a possible confrontation, I wanted back up as well as a witness as to what was said.

The guard arrived with a maintenance man in tow. I explained what I was going to do. We approached them and I said, “Excuse me. Are you here on hospital business?”

The girlfriend answered, “We’re visiting one of his friends.” and pointed to the son.

The son got the look of a deer caught in the headlights and stopped with a piece of a dinner roll halfway to his mouth.

“Who are you visiting?” I had the census sheets for the patients in the hospital and started to open it up.

When she couldn’t give me a name, she finally admitted, “We came here to eat.”

"I am to tell you that you cannot be here unless you are here on hospital business or visiting someone.”

“Where will we eat?” the woman complained.

“I don’t know. But it can’t be here. You’ll need to find somewhere else to eat.”

The security officer was at my side recording the conversation in a small notepad. When the woman caught sight of him she charged over to him, shaking her finger under his nose and demanded, “What are you writing?”

It caught him off guard and he stuttered, “ J-j-just the time and who was h-h-here.”

She turned back to me and repeated, “Where are we going to eat?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t know where you are going to eat, but you can’t come back here just to eat. If you return and aren’t here on hospital business, you will be asked to leave. If you refuse, I have the authorization to call the police and have you escorted off the property.”

All the wind went out of her sails with the mention of the police. She turned and gathered her things. She put on her coat, grabbed her purse, then left the hospital;.

“Let’s get out of here,” she called over her shoulder as she walked away.

I carried their empty trays back to the cafeteria.

We had our lobby back. Mama bear, poppa bear, and baby bear had left the building.

She wasn’t happy that she’d lost her eating place and wrote a letter to administration that we’d been mean to her. Of course we hadn’t, but she was being vindictive. The guard had his written report. I sent an e-mail of the details of the incident and the maintenance man added his report. All three accounts corroborated, disputing the statements the woman made.