Friday, March 07, 2014

Whining about moaning, moaning about groaning

Welcome to the latest installment in the continuing sage of As The Assisted Living Facility Turns.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVpJRmsyPho (click link before reading below)


At the monthly meeting of the Residents Advisory Council, several people were notable by their absence.  Among them are the people who are complaining the most about something going on at second seating meals.  One of the residents has a medical condition which we are told is causing him to make the moaning and groaning sounds that he makes, involuntarily.  As the volume and frequency of his moans has grown, more and more people are bothered by them.  Some of them have taken to making their own mocking sounds while others just yell "shut up" when they reach their limit of tolerance.

The President, who chooses to have lunch and dinner served in his room, is missing most breakfasts in the dining room of late, due to his busy work and medical appointment schedule.  However he was there this morning and took some measurements.  He estimates that these sounds are being made, on average, four to five times per minute.

Now there is one resident in particular who is complaining about this the most.  This resident insists that these are voluntary sounds, clearly unable to understand that even when someone says they aren't in pain, that doesn't mean they aren't going to make involuntary noises.  People groaning in restroom stalls aren't doing it to attract the attention of their neighbors, it's an involuntary noise.

The Director of the Facility was conspicuously absent on Friday, the date of the meeting.  So the President will be carrying that issue to the Director first thing on Monday.

Another issue raised at the meeting was one resident who feels that we are not paying enough attention to the new residents, and need to give them a special invitation to the first meeting of the Resident's Council that takes place after they move in.  So the President decided that the resident raising the issue should be placed in charge of a committee to ensure a special invitation is given to each new resident.  Points for cleverness to the President for that one.

There was a lively discussion about what other kinds of entertainment would go over well with the residents at scheduled entertainment times.  Some residents have complained that there is far too much music and no other types of entertainment.  The Activities Director has scheduled a magician to be the featured entertainer at this month's birthday celebration.  At this point the President volunteered to perform a magic trick.  But no one was willing to provide a $20 bill that he would have made disappear.

The last major item of discussion was a resident complaining that the entertainment activities are scheduled too closely together with meals, not allowing enough time to digest the meal before the event.  The President pointed out that with breakfast running from 7:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., lunch from 11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and dinner from 4:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., there just isn't enough time between meals to schedule entertainment well after meals.  But the President promised to discuss the issue with the Facility Director next week.

There were no fights, no items thrown, although one resident was heard to say "I don't talk to that thing over there," when another resident pointed out a flaw in the first resident's commentary.  The President made them behave.

Tune in next time for another episode of "As The Living Facility Turns."  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwxVPgZTYH4