How to start a brawl.

Aww, Music...it SOOOOOOTHES the savage beast.....

TOO FUNNY SAVANNAH!!!

Oh Savannah!!! That is hysterical!!! They can be a trip, that's for sure!

I can't believe the timing of your story. On Friday Nick went to volunteer at our local retirement center...he is preparing for Confirmation in a few weeks and has to do service projects. He volunteered to help with Bingo and it went really well...in fact he had so much fun, he wants to continue to volunteer there, and we're planning to do it together! Anyway, long story short...my mom stayed there while he was there, and watched these games going on---she witnessed two arguments between the women! One was during the Bingo game, and one was during this card game they were playing...one of the ladies was taking too long to make her move I guess, and the other lady started teasing her and being mean! My mom said it was all she could do to bite her own tongue! Gosh, it's like children on a playground!

Well, I thought it was very strange that our sweet, innocent Savannah was giving advice on how to start a brawl, but since she has some experience with it, I guess she must be an expert now.

There are some people I will never understand. Grumpy people are one of them. I make breads for the neighbors around Christmas every year. I was dropping off a bread in one of the mailboxes when the man of the house (I'm assuming, they are new and I haven't officially met them yet), came down the driveway at the same time hauling out the garbage. So, I said, "Hey, I've got a couple of cans in my garage you could take care of too." Then I laughed. He didn't say a word. Didn't even come close to cracking a smile.

Then I figured he must have been wondering why I was messing around with his mailbox, so I told him about the bread. He barely grunted a thanks to me and did not respond when I wished him, "Happy Holidays". He acted like I had told him I beat his mother with a baseball bat. Oh well, one less bread to make next year.

Leave it to Savannah to start a major brawl at a nursing center.

bethandmanly wrote:

There are some people I will never understand. Grumpy people are one of them. I make breads for the neighbors around Christmas every year. I was dropping off a bread in one of the mailboxes when the man of the house (I'm assuming, they are new and I haven't officially met them yet), came down the driveway at the same time hauling out the garbage. So, I said, "Hey, I've got a couple of cans in my garage you could take care of too." Then I laughed. He didn't say a word. Didn't even come close to cracking a smile.

Then I figured he must have been wondering why I was messing around with his mailbox, so I told him about the bread. He barely grunted a thanks to me and did not respond when I wished him, "Happy Holidays". He acted like I had told him I beat his mother with a baseball bat. Oh well, one less bread to make next year.

Oh my gosh, I didn't know you live next to my father-in-law!! Oh, did I just say that out loud?


Then there are those elderly that you can totally understand their ornery nature....half of them are abandoned in nursing homes and receive no visitors or cards or anything, and have lost a lot of their 'spirit'. Then there are people like my grandma, whose personality changed drastically after her Alzheimer's started to get really bad. Talk about grumpy! My sweet loving grandma began to get a potty mouth on her and could be downright nasty to all of us in the family.

Now, just to clarify, my father-in-law really doesn't have any excuse.

Savannah, when I read the topic before I opened it I was thinking the author was Larry!!!

Misti!

Last night before church, my Pastor had asked me how things went while I was at the nursing home. I made the mistake of telling him about this, and he thought it was so funny that he started talking about it during his sermon! He told everyone that I'd gone up there to be a blessing, and instead had started a smack-down with a little old lady!

That is hilarious!

I remember one time when I was working at a nursing home... there was this old lady who .. poor thing... was left traumatized from a fire. And almost the first half of the morning you would hear her cry and cry and wail... and then came this other lady from the end of the hallway on her wheelchair who looked upset. She turned in the direction of the poor wailing old lady and yells a long "Shuuuuuuuut Uuuuuuup!!!!!"

You may have to bring your "pan" along next time, Savannah. LOL! On second thought.....................

how funny, Savannah!

for some reason I could see my own grandmother getting into an argument like that...

Well, Savannah.....I could tell you so many stories. I worked in a nursing home from the time I was 15 til 19. I've seen MANY brawls....
My most memorable experience was with a woman named Carrie. She was in her 80's, a former minister and usually kind and went along with most anything. Carrie, no longer remembered basic things...time of day, who people were , where she was...etc.
I worked the 3-11 shift and picked up Carrie's dinner tray to take to her. We were always told to take the tray given us and not grumble about who we had to help feed. Carrie was never a problem and would only laugh when you said " You have cleaned your plate." This evening was about to turn into something my then 18 years had never experienced.
When I got to Carrie's room I layed her tray on a bed side table and turned the tv to the Wheel of Fortune. She loved to watch that while eating and I had long ago learned that she would repeat a letter which meant she would have to open her mouth. I then would slip a bite in....he he.
Well, as I turned back to Carrie and walked up next to the bed, she pulled a cracker out from under the sheet. She grinned so big, and said " Hors doeuvre?"
Lying so sweetly on the top of the cracker was NOT cheese. It was poop.
Now, needless to say Carrie did not need dinner that night.
She turned into an evangelist that wanted to run the devil out of us all as we cleaned her up. I've never seen such a mess, not even with my own kids and 18 years of childcare!
That was the brawl of a lifetime!
Carrie was back to her sweet self the next day, but she sure made us know what she was capable of!!!

Wow Gin!

I worked in a nursing home, it was a short temporary job that I had and I experienced a couple of things myself as well.

One I won't forget is a time I was using a payphone in the hallway and this old lady was taken out of her room to sit on a chair nearby and while I was talking on the phone, she kept looking at me and saying things to herself... I don't know who she thought I was but she was pretty upset! lol I had started to get a little nervous and when I made eye contact with her for more than 10 seconds she got up from her chair and came at me with her arms stretched like she wanted to choke me... and she was yelling. The nurses nearby quickly came to help though... they got her and put her in the room... but my heart was beating!!! lol

Yep, I've been punched, kicked, run at by a few naked people, almost got a lasso with the call light rope-thankfully I was quick.
It is a wonder I am as sane as I am.....LOL.

On the flip side of things, I learned alot from the elderly. They talked of times that were full of love and hardships. On lady told me I looked alot like her baby that had passed away. She could see the concern on my face when she said that and quickly said she just always wondered what that little girl would have looked like with all that blonde hair.
In alot of ways the staff became family to so many of the residents. It angered me to see some family come in only at Christmas time to keep up an apperance, but I also know that nursing homes aren't always easy place to visit. But I do know the more you are there the harder the pull on your heart you will feel.
There is strength in those people and they thrive on the visits, singings, and the children that come by.
I was only there 4 yrs but that time has certainly stayed within me, and sure taught me alot.

Wow, all these stories! Makes me reconsider volunteering!

J/K....I know the reward is great, and my volunteer work with my son will be at a retirement center, which I think will be easier for both of us to tolerate than a nursing home.

Don't give up on volunteering, Amy. That is how I got started at the Nursing Home at 14. Its the staff that usually get the brute of the wild stuff.
Check with the activity director for activities you could help with. There are alot of the residents that would love to see someone new. Their lives are so much the same day in and day out.