So I am filling in for the day as a nurse the other day at a rehab facility, and it is finally my turn to go to lunch. The facility that I was working at is very nice, and the buffet they serve is awesome. I was looking forward to eating a big salad along with whatever side dish that they were serving for the meal that day. So I get all of my stuff together, and then I look up to start scanning the room for seats. I notice that the staff are generally sitting in one area and the clients are all sitting amongst themselves in another area. So I am confused at this point as to whether there are rules about the staff and clients sitting with one another during meals.
So I walk up to one of the staff members and ask, "Are staff and clients allowed to sit together?"
So I walk up to one of the staff members and ask, "Are staff and clients allowed to sit together?"
"You are allowed to, but we discourage it," she then says to me. "You need to be cautious because if you sit with them they will engage you."
It wasn't the sort of engage that you would use in a positive way either. It would be more like the type of engaging that you try to avoid at all costs when you see someone you don't want to talk to. For instance, this might be the type of avoidance you're seeking when you're at the store shopping, and you see an acquaintance that you don't really want to talk with. You might walk by an aisle and catch a glimpse of them out of the corner of your eye and suddenly speed up to avoid any and all contact. Then you probably spend the rest of your time at the store mapping out you route so you'll never end up on the same aisle at the same time as them. Not that I've ever done this, but I hear people are petty like that sometimes 8). So this worker was cautioning me about the fact that if I sat with these people I might actually have to talk with them. You know, its sort of reminded me of the lepers outside the walls of Jerusalem who were not allowed to socialize or even talk with the 'normal' people inside the city walls. Keep your distance from them because if you get too close you might get 'ENGAGED' !! Eeeeewwww !! Engaged.....what is that and how do I get rid of it once I get it? Can you treat it with antibiotics.
It wasn't the sort of engage that you would use in a positive way either. It would be more like the type of engaging that you try to avoid at all costs when you see someone you don't want to talk to. For instance, this might be the type of avoidance you're seeking when you're at the store shopping, and you see an acquaintance that you don't really want to talk with. You might walk by an aisle and catch a glimpse of them out of the corner of your eye and suddenly speed up to avoid any and all contact. Then you probably spend the rest of your time at the store mapping out you route so you'll never end up on the same aisle at the same time as them. Not that I've ever done this, but I hear people are petty like that sometimes 8). So this worker was cautioning me about the fact that if I sat with these people I might actually have to talk with them. You know, its sort of reminded me of the lepers outside the walls of Jerusalem who were not allowed to socialize or even talk with the 'normal' people inside the city walls. Keep your distance from them because if you get too close you might get 'ENGAGED' !! Eeeeewwww !! Engaged.....what is that and how do I get rid of it once I get it? Can you treat it with antibiotics.
So after listening to her response I thought to myself how odd that had just sounded, and I went on my merry way to sit with a group of clients.
As I approach a table of young adults I ask them, "Do you mind if I sit with you all?"
Heads turn and puzzled looks come my way because I am in scrubs, and they all know that I'm staff.
"Sure, have a seat," they say.
So we all start eating together, and they immediately start 'engaging' me like I was one of them. I sat the whole lunch with them , and they did share some of their life with me. It was an awesome lunch , and one of the better ones that I have had...and not because of the food.
I couldn't help but think to myself that these are all awesome people that each have their own unique story. Sure, some of them have made mistakes, but so do I on an hourly basis. No one is without fault in this world, and the sooner we realize this the better off we will are.
So after lunch that day I was reading the following Bible verse to my boys at dinner: ' For he who is least among you is the greatest' It struck such a cord with me because the events at lunch just that day. It made me really take a look at the fine line that we all walk in this world between the so called 'normal' and 'abnormal'. The world so often labels us without even knowing a single page of our story, but Christ judges us only on what our hearts have on the inside. The world says if you look like you have it together then you really must, but Christ can see right through us. He knows that we all are just a bunch of ragamuffins that need some filling from the inside. No one on this earth is free of problems, and Christ doesn't really care about that anyway. The only thing he cares about is where you put your heart !
Lunch at work the other day helped me realize that we are always to remember Christ's love for us so that we can live a life that seeks all comers, working from outside the city walls inward.
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