Fired Up

I'm all fired up. I was boarding the shuttle tonight when a woman asked the driver if he went to **** House. For lack of a better term, the **** House is almost like a B&B for parents of kids receiving treatment at the hospital...think Ronald McDonald House but privately run by the hospital.

The shuttle driver said that he would drop the woman off nearby. Honestly at that point, I was in my own little fog of "end of 12 hour day" and kind of ignored the situation. A few blocks into the ride, he pulled over and told the woman to get out at the corner and directed her how to get there. It was only three blocks BUT it was 13 degrees and pitch black out. Plus she had never been there, was not familiar with Boston and was carrying two bags.

Let's not forget that if she needs to stay at the **** House, she is dealing with a very ill child.

So of course, I open my mouth (surprised?) and tell the driver to drive her all the way to the house...because none of us employees mind going TWO MINUTES out of our way on the way to the parking lot. Right??? Right???? But no one else on the shuttle bus even notices this conversation so no one chimes in to agree with me. Meanwhile, the driver hems and haws and turns the corner further away from the house...REALLY? I was furious. This is how we treat the parents of our sickest patients? We ignore their simple needs???

FIRED UP, I tell ya.

To be fair, maybe the other riders were all in their post-12 hour day fog too because a few seconds later, one of the men on the shuttle jumps into the argument and suggests that since the driver already turned the corner, he might as well drive us to the parking lot and then drop the woman directly off at the **** House.

He then leaned over to me and apologized because he didn't realize that it was a parent that I was arguing for (for whom I was arguing?). Then we had a lovely conversation about how the **** House is really nice (see photo).

Anyway, I'm still fired up. I was trying to do my good deed for the day and I just ended up feeling so annoyed that the driver and the other riders couldn't see that two minutes of our time would save a cold walk in the dark for a mother of a sick child. Grrrrrr.


Sidenote - this house used to be a frat house and was remodeled by the hospital last year while keeping the outside facade. Gorgeous!