Asylums

The carpet was too hectic. It was a chaotic blend of turquoise, pinks, blues, and greens. The different colors looked like bacteria or worms squirming over each other. Loud beeps came from down the hall, and a large desk housed a small staff of nurses. They flipped through paper work and bustled in and out of rooms. Their phone rang too loudly, the electronic screams doing battle with the human moans and conversations. Somebody's television blared sportscenter, almost illicting a feeling of familiarity. The smell of the halls snatched that fleeting feeling away. Sterile air, medicinal cream and a sporadic burst of refried beans.

We had enetered through golden doors, the metal shone as we shuffled in from the winter's night time breath. The entrance opened into a small common area dotted with two couches and maybe three chairs. They were the standard business furniture, mass marketed for it's uncomfortable feel and ugly patterns. The couches had no give and forced the sitter to be at complete attention, for what I didn't ask. The walls were lined with asian themed art, a heron waded in a pond near a lily pad, kanji and the brush strokes of a Japanese impersonator finished it off. On top of the paintings were fake leaves, the oranges and yellows of fall draped across the room. A scarecrow with a pumpkin for a head sat on a swing, nailed to the wall, his legs unable to swing.

Nurses ran to and fro their shoes squeaked as the grip clenched the floor and let up only at the last second possible, ripping the soles off the floor, an audible battle fought throughout the wards. I walked to the wall and inspected their menu, malt-o-meal, sausage a biscuit and seasoned greens, with choice of beverage. Down the hall in both directions were more central hubs to the wards of patients. A framed poster on the wall said something about self reliance and sufficency or maybe it was defficency. "She already gave you the pain pill, she went back to get it and then she gave it to you." A female voice rang from down the hall, it was a senior citizen decibel level, and followed mith the murmured voice of a man. "No I am not mad at you, just take your pills and let me know if you need anything else." The voice was yelling, it had a hint of annoyance but it was not cruel in tone. A woman in a wheelchair inched her way through the main hall, "Just getting some exercise," She said to one of the nurses who applauded her and said that she needed to do this everynight. The woman could not move herself forward with one push forward on her wheels, instead she rocked them back and forth until she scooted a small distance from where she was previously.

I didn't like this place, the feel of it. It was draped in sadness, an unseeable material that covered it all with hopelessness. Someone screamed down the hall, "HELP, HELP ME." The nurse informed us that he just did that, nothing was wrong. I believed her that there was nothing wrong with her but there was still something wrong with this place. The elementary school style decorations prickled my skin. An uneasyness fumed from the walls, the beds, this place. After we went through the paperwork we arrived at his room, a paper cut out of a clown face greeted us on arrival. The clown like all clowns was scary and it only added to the disturbing nature of our visit to this place. I would not want to be here I told my mom, she agreed but said that it was the best place they had found. There was no other place to put him, he needs 24 hour care and skilled nurses, this is what is best for everyone.

It saddened me as i sat in the lobby, I had elected to leave the room before they had stripped him down and cleaned him. He needed to have his diaper changed and his body washed off from the mess he had been sitting in for who knew how long. The path of life should not end here I thought. A pamphlet on the table read, "Jesus Christ is your savior." I could see how this would make sense in here. The parents aging and decrepid shuttled off to the home and left to sulk in these hopeless situations. If Jesus helps you make it throug the day then that's good enough. It made me think of prison, religon as an escape from the reality of your enviornment. When all hope is lost people turn to religion or education. It was different here, the twilight of their lives upon them, there was not much left to do but wait. Wait for visits from family, for your favorite tv show, for meal time, and bedtime.

needs some reworking, might change the perspective blah blah blah