Strange Days
“Strange days have found us
And through their strange hours
We linger alone
Bodies confused
Memories misused
As we run from the day
To a strange night of stone”- Lyrics to “Strange Days” by the Doors
It’s 9:00 p.m. I just got home from a very looooooong day at the hospital.
As I was leaving the unit (adolescent boys inpatient psychiatry), I had a sort of mind-bending experience. I was chatting with some of the boys and discussing the latest in iPhone technology, and it suddenly occurred to me how very strange my job is.
I have put in very long hours at the hospital for the past few weeks. I arrive on the unit around 7:00 a.m. and rarely leave before 9:00 p.m. I take no breaks. I rarely eat, save for a protein bar or “egg and cheese with tomato on a roll” from the cart man outside the hospital shoved into my face while writing orders. I basically live and breathe teenage boys with A LOT of emotional turmoil, behavioral disturbances, social problems, etc., etc.
It’s a crazy, strange, mixed-up world.
From the moment I arrive on the unit to the moment I leave, I’m so busy putting out fires that I rarely have time to breathe. Or think.
And now that I’m home, I’m too tired to think. Or write.
Bodies confused.
Memories misused.
This is my brain retiring. G’night world!
Quote: Dedicated to Jon!
Photos: Taken on my walk home from the hospital yesterday. 1) “The Doors.” 2) “Flatbush Corp.”