Time once again for another installment...

of As The Assisted Living Facility Turns.

We were working the daywatch out of Robbery-Homicide.  The boss is Captain Melnick.  My partner is Bill Gannon.  My name's Friday....wait, that's Dragnet, not ATALFT.  My bad.

It was a quiet Sunday morning and the group of residents referred to as "second seating" were slowly filing into the dining room.  Because the dining room is not large enough to accomodate all of the residents at the same time, each of the day's three meals have two seating times.  Recently the first seating times were changed to give that group more time to eat, and to allow the staff more time to clean between the two groups.  Breakfast is 7:00 - 8:30 for first seating, and 8:30 - 9:30 for second seating.  Lunch from 11:00 - 12:30 and 12:30 - 1:30, with Dinner being held from 4:00 - 5:30 and 5:30 - 6:30.  By 7 p.m. each evening, the dining room has been cleaned and everything put away, although the residents are free to use the sink to get water and to cook things in the microwave oven.

So as the second seating residents were walking, rolling and otherwise moving into the dining room for breakfast, two of the first seating residents were among the throng of people seeking seats.  One man, who happens to sit in the same seat at first seating that the President sits in during second seating was trying to get to "his" seat but the President was already there.  The staff attempted to get him to take one of several seats that are normally vacant during second seating, but the man was moderately agitated and chose to leave instead.

Meanwhile, the other resident who is normally fed during first seating was wheeled to a table far from her normal seat.  Several of the residents on second seating had sought to get her moved to first seating because she coughs and often won't cover her mouth.  Not only does she cough, but she coughs loudly and for long periods.  A couple of residents were so disconcerted when she started coughing this morning, they just got up and left.  But not before grousing to the President about her presence at the wrong seating.

This is not a new problem.  It is almost always caused by a shortage of what are known as PCAs (the new acronym for what used to be the Resident Assistants), and as a result, the short-handed PCA staff can't wake and bathe all of the residents at the usual time.  Thus some first seating residents, through no fault of their own don't get to breakfast on time.  The President plans to approach the Facility Director about seeing if some extra attention can't be made to those residents who need to be awakened early enough to get them to first seating to avoid future disruptions.

Tune in next time for another installment of ATALFT.