Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way, along with her nurse and Abraham’s servant and his men.

• Genesis 24:59

Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died and was buried under the oak outside Bethel. So it was named Allon Bakuth.

• Genesis 35:8

Nursing is a hard job.  From the verses above, the profession has been around a long time.  The first reference to “nurse” in the Bible is regarding feeding of a baby, but here, Deborah is the nurse for Rebekah, a fully-grown woman.

I have written about how roughly three weeks ago I was in the hospital after having an outpatient surgery, but I had no one to take care of me at home.  They admitted me for most of the next 24 hours.  I was mostly self-sufficient.  But I would like to point out two very “different” licensed practical nurses that assisted patients with the usual tough things in normal life, saving the registered nurses to administer medicines, adjust an IV, or do paperwork.

The first of these was a very tall guy who put the word “Dude” in every sentence.  He was fun to talk to, but the only time I needed, and got help, was when I went to the bathroom for the second time.  He did not help me at all, but when I placed the foley bag in a convenient spot and then turned to drag the pole with the IV into the room, he said, “Dude, that ain’t gonna work, Dude!”

My brain said, “Oh, no!  Two ‘dudes’ in the same sentence.”  Then I looked down and I had the IV tubing wrapped totally around me in one direction and the foley bag tubing wrapped around me in the opposite direction.  I still have no idea how that happened.  Even though you have to drain the bag much more often, I prefer the leg bag.  But as I spun around to get the Foley tubing straight, he held the IV pole, laughing the whole time.  But within a half hour, he left and was replaced by a guy who claimed to be in his sixties.

He also was fun to talk to, but when he saw the hat I had worn into the ER, he asked if he could wear it.  He undid the ear flaps so that they stuck straight out on either side.  He ran into the hallway accosting every nurse.  He asked each of them, “Point me to the North Pole!!!”

I died laughing, but at one point, I muttered softly, “I wonder if I will ever see the nurse or my hat again.”

Far on the other end of the floor, I heard him say, “I better get this hat back to the rightful owner.”

You may have seen a hat like this one, in the photo above.  Maybe not in person, but in a television commercial, many, many years ago.

I may be dreaming this up, but here is what I think I remember.

Picture a convenience store in a blizzard.  A delivery truck driver is bringing in beverages and he is stocking them in the refrigerated display.  Someone in the store needs help.  The delivery guy comes to the rescue.  The tears are wiped away.  But the checkout clerk saw what happened.

As the delivery driver is getting ready to leave, the checkout clerk says, “Don’t forget!  It’s cold out there.”

The delivery driver thanks the checkout clerk.  He reaches up and unsnaps the ear flaps on his hat and re-snaps them under his chin.  And as he walks out the door into the blizzard you see the logo for the first time embroidered into the hat, only visible if the ear flaps are down, Coca-Cola.

Then the scene goes black and the company says something about from all our bottlers, “Merry Christmas.”

Yeah, the last two words date the commercial.  Today they virtue signal.  Buy our product because we give millions to charity, but this was scripted, yet it did not virtue signal.  It was just a good deed, noticed by another, with the chance to show the logo as the scene faded.  And yes, my hat was purchased at the museum in Atlanta near the headquarters of the company.

But back to the nurses.  They are underpaid and overworked.  And people have been saying that for decades.  Show some love this year.  If you find yourself in the hospital, be kind.  If you are the patient, be patient.  It may take them a long time to answer the button.  But I knew I could take care of myself, so I saved them the aggravation by not hitting the button very often.  I think, three times in 24 hours, and only then to ask questions that only they could answer.  Add to that, be polite and smile – most nurses like those patients.  That gives them more time for the grumpy ones.  And I learned that from my wife.  She knew.  She had worked in a variety of hospitals.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.