You know there's a bathroom in you're room right?

Oh

I just didn't want you to run out your meter

No matter. I left plenty of time on it.

Oh ok. Didn't mean to jump all over you.

It's cool. So It's that brown door in the back?

Yup

Thanks.

Everyone I've met here so far has been perfectly nice. They almost always are, from experience. In my life I've spent perhaps, in total, a month in hospitals, mostly due to asthma. And no matter how likable I tend to find the people who work in hospitals, they almost uniformly manage, at least sometimes, to be utterly cruel places. Even now. And today I'm not even here because I'm sick.

I've volunteered for a five day bed rest study at BU's teaching hospital. I'm allowed thirty minutes of activity per day, but aside from that, I'm confined to a bed for the rest of the work week, and my roommate likes to watch Fox News all day.

By the way, I love how the top story for each of their news hours is that Obama is too busy mentioning how much they suck to pay attention to everything else going on. Because personally I know that I can't get ANYTHING else done on a day when I trash Fox.

When your wireless Internet connection is your main sanity crutch, look out.

Of course, I can't complain. The guy next to me can't eat, because he's recovering from surgery. He was in the hospital for his anniversary. In this place where people die and money changes hands, I'm neither at particular risk nor on the hook for expenses. In fact, I'm getting paid rather well.

On the other hand, as someone who's uninsured, it didn't feel great signing a form disclaiming the hospital of any obligation to cover the costs of treating anything they happened to find wrong with me (of course, if they make me sick, it's covered). Especially that I'd given them my name, address, and SSN.

I'm not sure how much kinder and gentler our hospitals can get. No matter what, a hospital is always going to be a building full of vulnerable people imprisoned by their own flaws, and at risk for their well-being.

That we allow them to be profit centers speaks to everything cruel and rotten in the American culture