YKYW - Nursing Student Blog

Monday’s child is fair of face,
Tuesday’s child is full of grace,
Wednesday’s child is full of woe,
Thursday’s child has far to go.
Friday’s child is loving and giving,
Saturday’s child works hard for a living,
But the child born on the Sabbath Day,
Is bonnie and blithe and good and gay.

Which are you? Is it right?

I haven’t really had much time online lately. But, I’m still around. School is going to keep me pretty busy, and things are going better at work. My main job function still isn’t all that exciting, but I’m starting to get pulled into other projects. Hopefully, these will make things bearable until I find another position.

I have my first lab tonight. I can’t wait to find out when I’m going to dissect the cat!

All in all, things in my life are going great. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to saying this, but life has never been this consistently good.

However, a number of people dear to me are experiencing trying times, and it is hard for me not to feel guilty about my good fortune. I feel like a bad friend because I’m not letting myself get swept away in their problems. I feel like a bad friend because it seems like I shouldn’t be so happy if people I care about are upset.

Or, do I feel guilty because I have a hard time allowing myself to be happy?

I started classes last night. I think Sociology will be easy if I merely go to class. Anatomy and Physiology, on the other hand, is going to try real hard to kick my ass. The professor speaks 90-to-nothing and presents a lot of material. But, I think I lucked out because she seems to be good at giving relevant examples and keeping my attention. She sounds a bit like Ellen Degeneres though. I wonder where she’s from?

What is it about higher education that makes people think it’s the be-all end-all of life? Once someone finds out I don’t have a degree, they lose all respect for any other accomplishment in my life. Without that piece of paper, society doesn’t seem to think anything else matters.

It’s pissed me off several times. Especially at 19, when I was told I couldn’t advance anymore for YEARS. The next stop for me was management, and the youngest manager was 33. That’s death for a Gemini! To stay in the SAME job for THAT long? They should have just put me out of my misery. I’ve also interviewed for jobs where the competition has a degree but no experience. When asked about my lack thereof, I’ve merely said that just because someone can memorize facts doesn’t mean they can apply them in practical situations. I guess I’m a better sales person than I thought, because I always get the job.

Hopefully I can stay motivated this semester. I suck at self-discipline. Anybody know a good way to make you do something that isn’t always appealing? I’ve tried bribing myself, but it just doesn’t work. The little gremlin says, “But I don’t want to go!” and it’s a fairly persuasive voice.

Yankee or Dixie?

In case there was any doubt, yes, I sound like a hick.

My results: 98% (Dixie). Is General Lee your father?

What about you?

“Before the year 1000, there was no she in English; just heo, which singular females had to share with plurals of all genders because it meant they as well. In the twelfth century, however, she appeared, and she has been with us ever since. She may derive from the Old English feminine demonstrative pronoun seo or sio, or from Viking invasions.”

From American Dialect.org

It seems I struck a chord with a few people on Friday with my entry about tsunami relief.

During dinner on Friday night, SK and I discussed the entry and everyone’s responses. Since I hadn’t seen her comment yet, she told me how she felt about donating (I donated because I am overwhelmingly grateful to have been spared the nightmare that Southeast Asia is experiencing. I donated because my life is profoundly blessed — and the Big Mac I skip could buy something as simple as clean drinking water for a child who has lost everyone and everything that exemplifies safety and normalcy to her. I donated because I am flawed and humble and selfish and I realize that I am lucky to live in a country where we can afford to give. I donated because I can relate to human suffering without regard to politics or borders or histories or rhetoric). I am blessed, as well, and I welcome this glimpse of compassion from a soul truly motivated by selflessness and consideration for our fellow man.

I believe charity is a personal thing, spurred by that little voice within us that weeps to see starving stray dogs, battered children, lonely elderly people, homelessness…What suffering in this world inspires me to action may not be the same thing that clamors for your attention. For me, violence against women and children always generates that gut-wrenching reaction. I made the decision long ago to donate to causes that help survivors of domestic and sexual abuse.

And so I explained my money was already ear marked for other places and I could not afford to give more. She told me that $1 would provide clean drinking water for 40 people. That number amazed me.

In regards to the parable, as much as I think I have been jaded by the world, I would still pick up that injured snake. In my heart, I would hope that to this one I could make a difference. I would rather err on the side of helping. When I told SK this, she told me about the quote she ended her comment with: “I would rather make mistakes in kindness and compassion than work miracles in unkindness and hardness.” ~ Mother Teresa

To respond to excerpts from a few comments:

I swear, we’re becoming defined more by our nationality then by our humanity all the time. And I imagine that if you or I were living in that area, born and raised there, we’d be full of wrong opinions and hatred towards America too… I don’t think that these people should be punished for hatred born of misunderstanding. That’s just being human.

You are right – I had never really considered how I’d view America if I weren’t an American. Kindness and compassion shouldn’t stop at the trivial markings on a map.

And yet, deaths in Africa (Congo, Sudan) go unremarked and unaided. 2.5 million people have died in the last 2 years in Congo, alone. The World press decides who’s worthy of help, it seems.

Exactly! If a few thousand people are not killed at once, it’s not considered a big deal.

Bottom line, I think it’s good that America helps them. Whether individual people help is up to them. I didn’t donate money to any other disaster ever, so I’m not going to donate money now. But I certainly wouldn’t exclude them because of who they are. If someone I hated was suffering, I wouldn’t say, “serves you right”.

This is the best comment that summed up how I feel.

Are your feelings about them being hostile toward us *enough* to withhold aid to those in need?

I appreciate this question, but in the end it’s not about withholding aid from that person; it’s just choosing to respond to the tragedies closer to my home.

But the bottom line is: would you want the world to judge you based on the actions of your parents, your neighbors or the complete stranger sitting next to you on the bus?… My neighbors may be members of the Ku Klux Klan for all I know. They might be selling children into sexual slavery. I have no idea. But I sincerely hope that if our neighborhood were to be hit by a tornado, people would not refuse to help me just because someone I live near is loathsome.

Ah, good point. No, I would not want to be judged on the action of those around me.

As I learn about the tragic tsunami, I am at a loss. While I ache for the children, I’m not clamoring to donate my money. Before you call me callous, take a look at pre-Tsunami Indonesia here.

I’ve been reluctant to voice this opinion because almost everyone I know donated money within the first couple of days. I was beginning to feel like a horrible person, until I ran across this.

“As tragic the events are- America should not be sending money it doesn’t have– especially to countries that are hostile to us.

The original gesture of 35 million was more than enough. After all, these countries have been very indifferent to us- and have been ardent supporters of America’s enemies.”

And this fable made me shudder:

“Once upon a time there was a serpent who was badly injured in a fight with another animal. It managed to slither away to safety but would have surely died if a benevolent man had not seen it suffering by the side of the road. The goodly man carefully wrapped the snake up and took it to his house, where he bestowed the kindest and gentlest care on the snake until it was healed and could return to the wild. Just as the man was releasing the serpent back into the grass, the ungrateful snake turned and bit him on the hand.

“What did you do that for?” cried the man, who knew that the bite of this particular snake was usually fatal. “Didn’t I take care of you when noone else would?”

The snake shrugged (no small feat for a snake!) and replied to the benevolent–and now doomed– man, “What did you expect? You knew I was a snake when you picked me up.”

Time will tell if the moral is applicable.”

Hopefully, we won’t regret our generosity.

I’m back!

Happy New Year!

How was your celebration? I had more fun with bar fruit (read: Maraschino cherries) than should be legal! If it had just been a matter of me finding cherries – with my lips – nestled in ladies’ cleavage – well, that would have been fun enough. But! But! I got to see women doing it to each other! Yes, there were several moments where I had to keep “oink” from passing my lips, but wowsers. Call me sick and twisted, but watching my most recent ex, , and my current, SK, eating cherries and trading cherry stems tied in knots…It did something for me. Women.DD cups.Cherries.Stems.

Ahh, sorry, I got distracted.

In other news, I got all my stuff turned in and I will be starting classes this semester. My feelings on going back to school deserve more than I have time to write about here. Maybe in the next few days. Needless to say, I am nervous but excited that I took the step.

I have over a week’s worth of entries to read, so if there is something you think I shouldn’t miss, show me the way.