About a year ago, I made a trip to Columbus, Ohio, after years of being away. I was taking a Nursing Leadership and Management class towards my BSN degree, and we were required to attend a public meeting within the time frame of the class. I was working full-time, and that complicated matters. So I picked an Ohio State Board of Nursing meeting. The address stated it was in the Huntington Building downtown.
Well, I knew where that was! My ex-husband had worked in the executive suite on the top floor back when we were married, in 1991-92. His office was in the north part of the highrise that symbolized the "H" in the Columbus skyline. We had watched Red, White, and Boom at eye level from his office on July 4th. The problem was, when I arrived, there was no Ohio Board of Nursing in that building. It was a really good thing I had gone early that day, because the office was in the OTHER Huntington building downtown. The old one. I managed to keep my composure through this disconcerting experience, and talk myself through the fact I was a farmer's wife now. It turned out to be an interesting meeting to write a paper on. A nurse practitioner was requesting a license reinstatement after rehabilitation, following misusing physician prescription pads to write herself scheduled substance scripts.
A lot of people misuse drugs. Nearly every day I go to work, I have patients who want dilaudid. The nurses have knicknames for it, such as diLALA, or the only medication nobody seems to be allergic to. I have given so much dilaudid, in fact, that it is difficult for me to not be judgmental towards innocent homeless people on the street. I have this overshadowing feeling that they ALL want dilaudid, and sometimes I do a doubletake at what I'm wearing to make sure I'm not in scrubs.
That day of the meeting, after it was over, I decided to take a drive through some old haunts, such as the J.C. Penny outlet, and Eastland Mall. The Max and Erma's off of Brice Road was all closed up. That part of the east end was like an enormous, concrete, corporate ghost town!
A turn of life events has put me in travel nursing, only a year later. I have found myself back in Columbus, for the past 6 weeks, and will be here off and on for over another month, minus my trip to the Southwest. It is paying the mortgage. I have been renting from an acquaintance with a house in a subdivision, but decided to take a leap this week, and rent a pay-by-the-week hotel room, to get my feet wet for future trips. I can go back to where I was, but I wanted to try this.
Most people are not as bad as we assume they are. They have bad events in their lives, or runs of a bad time, but most people are mostly good. Someone told me recently that a part of Columbus I wanted to rent a weekly room in was now an "unsafe" part of town. Back in the 1980's, Morse and 161 between I71 and I270 was an area with nice clubs and shopping centers. College kids would drive up to hang out of the day, or for weekend drinks. I drove through, and it was like the east end, but on a different scale. Today, I rented a place anyway. I'm sure there is danger. Just like there are Mexicans who sell drugs, and who kill people. I am definitely the minority, as a tall white woman.
I noticed something odd today. Once I moved in to this place, in a "bad" part of town, I felt a huge sense of relief. It was only slightly dampened by finding a lone roach in my room. A woman doing laundry pushed my floor's elevator button along with her own the second time I rode the elevator with her. A tall black gentleman paused before entering his room as I walked by, to greet me, and make short conversation. The housekeepers were discussing day-to-day news in the hallway with residents. I stopped into the Asian Market over in the Columbus Square. That shopping center was once a thriving place. Our dissolution lawyer had an office there. Now it houses a giant thrift store. The oriental check-out lady at the Asian Market had her young daughter with her. When I bought Kimchee and noodles, she told me it looked good, and asked the little girl, "Should we have Kimchee and noodles for supper tonight?" The little girl replied, "Yes! Yes!" The people in this part of town are ACCEPTING and FRIENDLY. I feel at home here.
Last night, I went out to a movie by myself. I went to Easton to see "Captain Phillips." It was too expensive. It was about an American cargo and food relief ship being hijacked by Somali pirates. Columbus, Ohio has become a refuge for Somalians. About 1/4 of the people in the theater were Somalians, probably because the film was about people from their country. I have been taking care of a lot of Somalians at work. It felt good to be in a theater with them, instead of a hospital. It felt good to watch a movie, where the main character connected with his captor, and even tried to help, and ultimately save his captors. He was unsuccessful in saving them, because they were stubborn, due to their life circumstances.
I want to think on that some more - how life circumstances make people stubborn. Circumstances don't just make criminals stubborn, but also those who oppress.
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