And now, another episode of...
As The Assisted Living Facility Turns.
Last Monday was the monthly meeting of the residents council and an interesting topic came up for discussion. The question raised was if it is allowable for the residents to engage in sexual relations with one another in their rooms.
There are rules about what the residents can and can't do in the facility, but the issue of sex is not covered anywhere in those rules. Those rules do detail some interesting stuff, but weren't equipped to deal with the notion that older folks need sex too (since I'm only 54, I don't count myself among the group of older folks, but if I had decided to get laid, I'd have done it elsewhere).
Some interesting concerns were raised. One involved the issue of mental infirmities where informed consent is no longer possible. A valid concern and one that management said it would deal with, if it ever became a problem. The President wanted to dismiss the concern as being an extremely remote possibility but wisely did not.
Another concern is that the staff often rings the bell on the door to a room and opens it in one motion, something that could get them an eyeful of a vision they would almost certainly prefer not to see. Do Not Disturb signs were discussed and might be the solution to that.
Then there was the major issue, that since so many residents have a roommate, draping a sock over the knob to the door to please give the occupants more time isn't going to work like it did in college. Eventually, it was determined that if a resident wants to get it on with another resident, if neither of them has a private room, they will have to work it out with the roommate in advance.
What pleased the President is that the focus of the conversation remained on the rights of the residents to do as they wish within their homes. We all live here, and if what we are doing isn't negatively impacting another resident, it should be allowed (assuming it isn't against the law).
* * *
Then came the other issue that is always interesting, the topic of who sits where in the dining room. To review, or for those who aren't familiar with our dining room here, three meals are served daily. First seating has breakfast from 7:00 to 8:30, lunch from 11:00 to 12:30 and dinner from 4:00 to 5:30. Second seating goes from 8:30 to 9:30, 12:30 to 1:30 and 5:30 to 6:30. The reason that first seating has a longer meal period is that there are some residents on the first seating who need more time to eat.
There have never been "formal" seat assignments, but people who are new are usually shown to what is supposed to be a vacant seat and it becomes theirs. For example, I've been sitting in my current seat since the week I arrived here. I go to the second seating. Another resident sits in my seat at first seating, so if for some reason I need to go to first seating, I have to sit elsewhere.
The subject of assigned seats at this month's meeting resulted in a new policy. People will have "assigned" seats and the facility will make a seating chart. If a resident needs to move to the other seating on occasion, the staff will let them know which seats are not currently assigned on that seating.
Management hasn't had a chance to deal with the creation of the chart yet, but on this sunny Monday morning, a problem arose. Some of the residents aren't capable of getting up by themselves and are dependent upon staff coming into their rooms to assist them. One of those residents didn't get the help they needed until later than usual and as a result, that resident was still eating breakfast from first seating when second seating started.
This caused one of the second seating residents to become quite upset. First off, the very presence of the other resident upsets this particular resident's sense of order. Also, and more importantly, the second seating resident claims that the first seating resident gives off a bad odor that the first seating resident refuses to tolerate.
Fortunately, when the President arrived, he was able to calm the situation by moving the first seating resident to another seat several tables away, where they could finish their breakfast in peace. What scares the President is what would have happened if he'd gone to a meeting this morning that he chose to blow off to stay home and rest?
Tune in again soon for another episode of As The Assisted Living Facility Turns.
Last Monday was the monthly meeting of the residents council and an interesting topic came up for discussion. The question raised was if it is allowable for the residents to engage in sexual relations with one another in their rooms.
There are rules about what the residents can and can't do in the facility, but the issue of sex is not covered anywhere in those rules. Those rules do detail some interesting stuff, but weren't equipped to deal with the notion that older folks need sex too (since I'm only 54, I don't count myself among the group of older folks, but if I had decided to get laid, I'd have done it elsewhere).
Some interesting concerns were raised. One involved the issue of mental infirmities where informed consent is no longer possible. A valid concern and one that management said it would deal with, if it ever became a problem. The President wanted to dismiss the concern as being an extremely remote possibility but wisely did not.
Another concern is that the staff often rings the bell on the door to a room and opens it in one motion, something that could get them an eyeful of a vision they would almost certainly prefer not to see. Do Not Disturb signs were discussed and might be the solution to that.
Then there was the major issue, that since so many residents have a roommate, draping a sock over the knob to the door to please give the occupants more time isn't going to work like it did in college. Eventually, it was determined that if a resident wants to get it on with another resident, if neither of them has a private room, they will have to work it out with the roommate in advance.
What pleased the President is that the focus of the conversation remained on the rights of the residents to do as they wish within their homes. We all live here, and if what we are doing isn't negatively impacting another resident, it should be allowed (assuming it isn't against the law).
* * *
Then came the other issue that is always interesting, the topic of who sits where in the dining room. To review, or for those who aren't familiar with our dining room here, three meals are served daily. First seating has breakfast from 7:00 to 8:30, lunch from 11:00 to 12:30 and dinner from 4:00 to 5:30. Second seating goes from 8:30 to 9:30, 12:30 to 1:30 and 5:30 to 6:30. The reason that first seating has a longer meal period is that there are some residents on the first seating who need more time to eat.
There have never been "formal" seat assignments, but people who are new are usually shown to what is supposed to be a vacant seat and it becomes theirs. For example, I've been sitting in my current seat since the week I arrived here. I go to the second seating. Another resident sits in my seat at first seating, so if for some reason I need to go to first seating, I have to sit elsewhere.
The subject of assigned seats at this month's meeting resulted in a new policy. People will have "assigned" seats and the facility will make a seating chart. If a resident needs to move to the other seating on occasion, the staff will let them know which seats are not currently assigned on that seating.
Management hasn't had a chance to deal with the creation of the chart yet, but on this sunny Monday morning, a problem arose. Some of the residents aren't capable of getting up by themselves and are dependent upon staff coming into their rooms to assist them. One of those residents didn't get the help they needed until later than usual and as a result, that resident was still eating breakfast from first seating when second seating started.
This caused one of the second seating residents to become quite upset. First off, the very presence of the other resident upsets this particular resident's sense of order. Also, and more importantly, the second seating resident claims that the first seating resident gives off a bad odor that the first seating resident refuses to tolerate.
Fortunately, when the President arrived, he was able to calm the situation by moving the first seating resident to another seat several tables away, where they could finish their breakfast in peace. What scares the President is what would have happened if he'd gone to a meeting this morning that he chose to blow off to stay home and rest?
Tune in again soon for another episode of As The Assisted Living Facility Turns.
posted by me at 1:38 PM
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