D'oh!

Monday, January 25, 2010

I hadn’t been out to the Soldiers Home for a few days because I threw my back out Saturday.

Which brings me to this: the top two stupidest things I have said at the Soldiers Home. I’m sure there are more. But these will gnaw at me forever.

1. Back when I had just started helping out at Bingo, Doug asked me to pull up a chair and sit with him. "Oh, no thanks," I said. "I’ve been sitting down all day." Doug has been in a wheelchair since I’ve known him. "Tell me about it," he replied.
2. Mike, bless his heart, called me twice the last couple days to see how I was doing with my aching back. "I am old and feeble," I told him. In my pathetic state of self-pity, I had forgotten a cardinal rule of Soldiers Home volunteerism: Do not complain. Mike relies on constant oxygen, sits in a wheelchair every minute he’s not sleeping and bravely endures more daily pain than I can imagine. And I tell him I’m old and feeble because my back is sore. I am not old and feeble, but I can certainly be a dope.