Captain Cheesestick

I love how he blurts out random shit. Not a sign of mental deficiency at all.

Lion in Winter

Oh I don't know. As the owner of, er, female body parts I would stay at least 6 feet away from the demented carrot at all times.

Although I understand he does prefer underage girls.

Nutmegger

Everyone might enjoy this article about how Baby Boomers don't think of themselves as "old" and thus at risk for the virus:

Why Are So Many Baby Boomers in Denial?

scrubbedexpat099

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/0...tingent-127438

Looks like Joe has work to do.

yellowroom

somewhat off topic but hello stranger!

Captain Cheesestick

Hello!

Leslie

Yeah, I have a lot to say about that.

My office deals almost entirely with a 65 and up cohort. Also, many of these are extremely vulnerable with multiple underlying health conditions and disabilities. We are trying to thin out the schedule by calling all scheduled appointments (we do not deal with anything critically necessary to physical health --- it can wait) to try to resolve their issues over the phone and/or postpone the in-office service. We are not closing (yet) but we are working toward only having one client in the waiting room at any given time. The overwhelming response has been to argue with us and accuse us of not wanting to help them ... with an alarming number of them refusing to cancel or reschedule

A very sick man came into a full waiting room earlier this week, coughed all over our staff and clients, and then announced to the receptionist that he had just left his doctor's office and came by to cancel his appointment for the next day because it was on his way home. His doctor, who couldn't test him for corona because they still don't have the tests, had just given him a "shot" and told him to go home and self quarantine. That happened.

I spoke with a 70 year old woman who said she wasn't going to let it affect her everyday routine because it's all in God's hands anyway. Why should she be punished? I suggested to her that the entire country was being "punished" in an effort to keep HER alive and maybe she could pitch in? Possibly?

Yesterday we put a sign on our door that says, among other things, (1) If you do not have an appointment, DO NOT ENTER THIS BUILDING (2) If you are sick, DO NOT ENTER THIS BUILDING. I watched through the glass as a woman read the entire thing and then burst in and said, "I don't have an appointment but I'm not sick." She then proceeded to argue and bully her way into getting what she wanted. We helped her just to get her out of there and we told her so. Short of calling the police, this was the safest and quickest solution. She's 83 years old.

yellowroom

That's really interesting Leslie. I find the psychology fascinating - I suspect some of it may be that as you get older, your world shrinks. I see that with my mum who is 80 - she is less aware/cares less about what goes on in the world outside her small bubble. However, with gentle prompting she usually takes notice of things then connects the dots to her circumstances. However, she is less flexible/resiliant than she used to be, and a sign that says "do not enter if you do not have an appointment" would flummox and upset her if her plan was to enter to make that appointment - and she is cognitively generally ok for her age. However, my mum would go home flummoxed and upset and then ring up to make the appointment, and not burst in and make a fuss.

Having said that, my mum has always been a generally intelligent and compliant person - who regularly observes how rude other people can be to the staff at the hospital/physio/doctors when the staff are nothing but kind and helpful to her. I suspect arseholes who grow old become old arseholes. I am so glad I pursued a career path that meant I didn't have to deal with the general public in my job, those of you that do have my admiration.

Leslie

I find it fascinating as well, but I am not even remotely surprised. The attitude is very familiar to me. Part of the story, of course, is that there are those that have proactively cancelled their own appointments or don't give us a hard time when we ask them to cancel. That isn't the majority though.

The nursing homes stopped taking people out for appointments a couple of weeks ago, based on recommendations (not publicized) from the Trump administration. Remember, nursing homes receive federal funding/Medicare/Medicaid so certain information is delivered directly to their administrators, they don't have to wait for press conferences like the private sector.

Another aspect is that seniors are often discriminated against, taken advantage of and exploited. Many have learned an automatic response to fight their corner no matter what ... even though it is often illogical and sometimes self-defeating. Maybe they have a chip-on-their-shoulder but they probably came by it honestly.

Finally, because we have a strong policy of treating our clientele as "guests" they find their visits to be pleasant and they probably look forward to coming in. Seniors will tell you that their calendars are primarily full of medical appointments, it can become a disproportionate representation of their social life. Taking it away from them can make them angry, even if it is for their own good.

zzrmark

I was working in a trailer park yesterday, the type packed with active snowbirds rather than broken down locals, there were signs up at the clubhouse, 'bingo cancelled', 'prayer meeting cancelled', 'fit club cancelled', 'talent show cancelled', etc, etc. I go to the job, situated on a corner, directly opposite me someone had organized a Bocce ( best described as Crown Bowls without the formality) tournament, there were probably a hundred older people packed round the 'green'(?) from 8.30am to 4pm. On the other corner was a large pavilion that was holding the weekly Friday afternoon grill up, also packed all afternoon. During the course of the day I heard at least a dozen people complain to their chat buddy as they walked/golf carted past about how miffed they were that the talent contest had been cancelled. Ostrich's with their head in the sand!

Leslie

As an aside, I wonder if the virus will be lessed in warm weather climes?

Steerpike

Not so sure about that. Trump seems to have inherited Reagan's 'Teflon president' abilities. It seems to only work for republicans.

Steerpike

LOL !

Steerpike

Me too! Actually, now that I think of it, I did do customer service for a while, but that was on the phone and there is some magical quality to the phone that changes the whole dynamic. I built multi-year relationships with people I never met in person.

Steerpike

So you are literally on the front lines of this thing then. Are you able to maintain at least some distance?