Monday, December 17, 2012

Welcome to another installment of....

as the assisted living facility turns.   Today's chapter opens in the dining room at breakfast, where all is quiet.  The oatmeal was a bit too runny but the eggs were firm and tasty on this Monday morning.  There were a few residents missing and many still seemed saddened by the passing of one of the residents over the weekend.

Suddenly the still of the morning was interrupted by the arrival of one of the residents well after the appointed time to show up to eat.  She is one of those who has serious issues with memory and always forgets where her assigned table is.  Worse yet, the one other person who eats at that table had already finished and left, and this resident hates to sit and eat alone.

One of the caregivers for another resident noted this other resident's situation and invited her to sit with them.  Nothing wrong with that, there is no one assigned to the seat that the caregiver pointed her to.  No one else seemed to care.

Suddenly the self-appointed seating monitor said "she can't sit there.  We have assigned seats.  She sits in the corner."

The caregiver told her to mind her own business, at which point the self-appointed seating monitor got even more agitated.  There were additional words and another resident sitting with the caregiver joined in.  The tension grew. 

Then the president of the resident's council walked over to the table where the caregiver is sitting and asked her not to do this again, because there are some who have issues with the assigned seating arrangement.  He asked politely but firmly and the caregiver assented but also said she would take it up with the facility's director.

So the president got to the director first, to let her know what had happened and he suggested a course of action.  The director said his suggestion was a good one and she would put it into effect.

And they all went on with their day, waiting to see what the next installment of As the Assisted Living Facility turns will bring.