Today's installment of...

As The Assisted Living Facility Turns is short but telling.

The President had finished eating breakfast and was chatting with the receptionist and the med-tech on shift at the front desk when one of the residents came up to the desk.  "Where is my room" he asked.

"Room 205, upstairs" was the response from the receptionist.

"How do I get there?"

"Take the elevator up to the second floor (there are only two floors) and then turn left, go down the hall and it will be on your left."

"I don't believe you.  You're just trying to get me lost."

"I promise I'm telling the truth."

"I don't want to be lost."

At this point the President was frustrated.  Dementia is hard enough to watch without watching people not stepping up to be supportive.  So the President interjected, asking the resident "would you like someone to show you where your room is", fully intending to walk the resident up to the room himself.  But that was when the receptionist got the subtle message in the President's statement.

"Okay (insert name of resident here), I will take you up so you won't get lost."  She took him to the elevator and walked him to his room so that he didn't get lost.

The President wanted to tell her that she should be more sensitive to the residents whose level of dementia has risen to the point where not only can they no longer remember their room numbers, they can't remember how to get there once they are given the number.  But he remained silent.  It is a new year and being critical of others is not the way to start the new year.  Perhaps the lesson was learned when she recognized that the resident wasn't asking for his room number, he was asking for help in getting there safely.  Time will tell.