Overheard in my office...

I love the "Overheard" blogs -- Overheard in Athens, Overheard in the Office, Overheard in NY -- so I'm doing one of my own. These are things I've heard while sitting in my office or walking around the halls where I work. Mostly they are just quotes, not conversations.

Man walking up and down the hall outside my office: "Ooooohhhhh, the Eastah Bunnah is hoppy hoppy on the floor shiny shiny floor WHAT?!"

Man: "Ok White Sox, I fell down."
Staff: "Are you ok? Why did you fall down?"
Man: "The White Sox lost. I got heavier."
Staff: "It's not baseball season yet."
Man: "What are you talking about baseball? I fell down."
Staff: "Well let's pick you up."
Man (very happy now): "I'm heavy!"

The "Wandering Alarm" is going off (a high, shrill beep that is triggered when a patient who continually gets lost tries to get on an elevator or go outside without a staff member -- they wear bracelets like being on house arrest):
Man who set off alarm: "Ooooo, that's my song."
Staff: "You can't go on the elevator."
Man: "Watch out now, I'm dancing."

I'm waiting by the elevator and a man approaches:
Man: "HEY IRV!"
Me: "Hi, I'm not Irv. My name's Russ, I'm with Psychology."
Man: "Who? I'm not Marv."
Me: "Ok, what's your name?"
Man (sort of growling): "Errrrrrrvvvvvvv."
Me: "Your name is Irv?"
Man: "No, you're Irv. My name is Marvin."
Me: "No, I'm Russ. Who are you looking for, Marvin?"
Man (walking away now): "Irv, hahaha, you're crazy."

Man in bed: "Hey, the riverboat goes down the river. The tugboat goes 'toot toot toot' (each 'toot' is punctuated by a loud fart)."

These are just a few of the things I've heard that I later think about and laugh very hard. Sometimes it's very fun to work with patients with dementia. If you think about it too hard, it's very sad, but sometimes you can find things to laugh about and usually the patients will laugh right along with you.

posted by Russell @ 11:11 AM Comments : 2