At the Desk

My past 4 shifts have been insanely slow so nothing exciting has happened. So this is where I will dip into my archives and tell you a previous 'At the Desk' story.

First, let me explain how my desk works. There are 2 of us at a time at the desk (sometimes you are alone) We are side by side but the patients on the other side of the desk are separated by a divider wall thing. We are not protected by a window or anything, if a patient wants to jump the counter and strangle me it is very possible.

About 20-30 feet down the hall is the ER, they are locked up like Fort Knox and you need a code to get in. They are very rarely alone in there, meaning there is always a minimum of 2 nurses at any give time.

On the weekends, our shifts start at 7am. We are alone at the desk until 11am when the next shift begins.

One weekend morning (I can't remember if it was Saturday or Sunday but that is irrelevant) I get to work at 6:55am. I say bye to the Security Guard who is now gone until that night and I begin to log in to my computer, disinfect my work area, and start my day.

All of sudden one of our regular 'crazies' (let's call him C-for Crazy) comes out of the ER and the door promptly shuts behind him (and locks automatically). He comes flying over to the desk and starts to scream:

"This fucking place is bullshit! That nurse in there is nothing but a bitch!" the cursing proceeds as he is getting closer and closer to me. I push my chair back with my legs because he is now leaning over the counter waving his arms frantically.

"I am fucking dying and the fucking doctor hasn't fucking seen me yet, this fucking place is bullshit! That fucking nurse is such a bitch"

Suddenly I realize that by pushing my chair back I can no longer reach my panic button or the phone. Fantastic!

"C! Calm down! Why are you yelling at me? I have absolutely nothing to do with the way you were treated in there"
He didn't hear me because he was too busy yelling and at some point he slammed the plastic bag full of his pill bottles on the floor. They, of course, smashed all over the place and now there are unknown meds all over the floor.

"I am calling the Prime Minister and reporting all of you fucking bitches!!" By now he has backed away a little form my counter and is starting to walk away. He points at the mess he made on the ground. "Now fucking clean this up!"

And with that, he leaves.

I am sitting in my chair shaking. I immediately call the nurse in ER and start to tell them what happened before she cuts me off to say "oh well, if he comes back, call the cops"

So here I am, all alone and accessible to these crazies while they are in pairs behind a locked door and they shrug it all off like it's no big deal.

And that was a lovely weekend morning that I spent at the desk.