y'all, i think the longer i have worked in the city, the more i begin to see things wrong with it. i work with a struggling population. a lot of them rely on some form of transportation from someone else, whether it be the public buses, share-a-fare, oats, etc. this turns out to mean that some people wait in the lobby for HOURS as they wait for their rides. sometimes these people have young children with them. other times, it's an elderly person sitting alone as they wait. sadly, it is not uncommon to see people still waiting for their rides when we close at 5.
today it really got to me. to start, there were two adorable little girls waiting in the lobby with their mom for what seemed like all morning. i was amazed at how well behaved they were through all the waiting. then later this afternoon, we had one of the sweetest elderly people come in. they went out into the lobby around the middle of the afternoon, after we called their ride and the diver gave us a time they would be here. i don't know why this one person got to me so much, but they were still there when we left work a couple hours later. it broke my heart today.
for a while after work i was confused as to why this one particular person got to me so much today. but i realized it's because my heart is with our patrons, as i feel it should be. these people come here to get better, and there are times when we have a hard time helping them, and it is so hard for me to tell them we can't help because of things like insurance, or that we don't have what they need in stock. i hate having to be the barer of bad news, to not be able to help the person who needs it.
it's been opening my eyes over the past year of different things that are wrong with the whole health care system in america, and in my own city as well. i hate seeing it, and i wish i knew what to do to make a difference.
