mysterious ways

and so i climbed my grumpy self out of bed this morning, upset that i had to go to work when i was supposed to have the rest of the week off.  it would have been nice - and it sure felt like it was something i needed after the last couple of months, but it just wasn't meant to be.  and now i know why. 

i walked into the prison at 7:40, hung a right in the lobby and checked the mail.  greeted the officers in c-1, grumbled my way down the hall and up the stairs to gh&i where i emailed dr. h about the dictaphone in my mailbox that i sure as heck wasn't carting all over the building in an attempt to locate its rightful owner.

oh yeah, i was as sour as green persimmons. 

at nine o'clock, something made me go back down to the mailroom.  no reason that i can give - just an inner voice that said - oh, just go check the danged mail again. so i did, even though it's something i never do twice in one morning, and there they were where they didn't belong - sick call requests.  they go into a designated box in the kitchen so the nurses can pick them all up at once.  several months ago, my boss had instructed me to return them to the sgt. to give back to the inmate to put in the proper place.  it's procedure, after all.

so for about five minutes, i tried to track down a sgt., but their offices were moved and where the sgts. are hiding in that long, gray concrete building is a mystery.  they blend in quite well.  no way was i going to traipse up and down stairs, mumbling and grumbling under my breath - medical would just have to take 'em from me today.

i took the sick call for central to the nurse's station and handed it to smith.  she had just finished clinic, and wasn't too pleased to get another request, but she located the inmate to see what his major malfunction was.

it was major.

i poked my head out of medical records a little later - mackey, our PA was running.  my boss yelled at me - call 911 and put in a ur for the er!

the man's pulse was 44.  his ekg was off the charts.  he was scared to death, and my boss, who has no bedside manner, told that to the officer outside the door and then added - so am i!

that was just after nine this morning.  the man still hadn't returned from the hospital at closing time, and i hope and pray he was admitted.

but it's so strange, the way it happened. i never check the mail twice in one morning.  i always give the sick calls to the officers to be put in the proper place. 

my conclusion is - it wasn't his time, and between the mailroom and smith's hands...well.  i had to be there today.  no, i wasn't responsible for saving his life...but i was a link in some kind of chain, and i had to be there.

makes you realize that sometimes our plans aren't that important - it's the plans Something Else..God, or the Universe, has in store, and one or the other will put you where you're supposed to be when you're supposed to be there.

it's a lesson i didn't mind being taught, after all.