Why Don’t We Speak Up?

Why Don’t We Speak Up?

Sometimes, I wonder.  Are we growing up as sheep?  Can’t we speak up to set things right?

Most of the time, these days, I order groceries on line and, after they are assembled, I drive to the store, and they are delivered to my car door.

Yesterday, I wanted to see if there was anything new that was calling my name.  And, there are always things that I forget to order and just waiting for me to wander through the aisles and put into a basket.

I had occasion to be at my local store for those things, just this past week.  My list included crackers, fresh chicken thighs, jelly, as well as this month’s gift cards for my trash men, Isaac and his helper.  I had assembled my order and walked to the check out stands.  No cashier was there.  The checker stand lights were all dark.  Instead, wending its way through an aisle was a line of at least ten shoppers waiting to check out their choices.  Eddie (one of the men who brings out my on-line grocery order) was working with the customers who check out their own groceries.  I don’t do that – check out my own groceries.  Doing that, I believe, takes away a job from a worker.

I said, “There are no checkers.”  To which he replied, “Wait just a minute.”  He left his station and busied himself getting help.  He opened the first check out stand (next to the self-check out area); I moved into the area and put my choices on the stand’s belt.  Immediately, most of the people waiting in the self-check out area moved to where Eddie had opened the stand to have their groceries taken care of by him.

Why didn’t someone in that line of ten ask about the lack of checkers?  Are we so used to having no service that they thought they HAD TO STAND IN THAT LINE, FOREVER?  Clearly, no one person thought he or she could change the scenario – they thought they had to put up with the status quo.

A good friend, gone now for many years, always told my daughters, “First, give them a chance to help.”  Most of the time, he said, you will get help.  If they refuse, then, you can “go after them.”  The grocery store line was a good example of what he said to do.

The husband of a friend was in the hospital recently; surgery.  Following the surgery, he was in recovery for nine hours.  NINE HOURS!  Apparently, he negatively responded to something given to him during the surgery.  He was then sent home with a foley catheter.  Why was he sent home?  Why wasn’t he kept in the hospital where medical professionals could care for him?  His family is not peopled with health care professionals.  How are they supposed to be his first line of defense if something should go awry with that catheter.  Why do we allow our health care system to put us in that position?

I remember a neighbor (he was actually my computer tech guru, at the time) who also had surgery and was discharged the same day.  His wife took him home, and he died later that day.  Again, why didn’t the health care system keep him longer?

Women who are in the hospital birthing center and giving birth to the child are sent away as quickly as possible.  When my children were born, our hospital stay was two or three days.  Enough days to become a little acquainted with the child.  Enough to rest a bit from the act of giving birth and get the last real sleep for many months.  After all, giving birth is not an easy job.  Women need to rest!  First, she has carried this babe for nine months or so.  And, then, the delivery is often not easy task.  Yet, the new mother is sent home as quickly as possible.  Is money at the root of this evil?

There is much that can be said about being – or not being – reluctant to speak up when something is wrong.  Can you?  Can you “give them a chance to help?”  And, if “the they” does not help – then, “go after them.”

Be Safe and Be Well
The Cranky Crone
Thoughtful comments are appreciated.