Certain Songs

I hate hospitals. I know, they aren't anyone's preferred destination, but I really, really hate them. Couple my long held mistrust of the medical establishment with my general disapproval of authority and then add the sterile, blinding whiteness of hospital decor, and there you have my own personal hell. But with my brother having his biopsy this weekend, I have had to spend an inordinate amount of time in a hospital room for the last couple of days. It's been eye opening. See, I have never stayed the night in the hospital as a patient. In fact I have never even had to go to the hospital, which is amazing considering my incredible lack of balance and my overall clumsiness. The rooms are even sadder than I imagined.

My brother had a 'roommate'...who deserves to have a screenplay written about his life - this I am proclaiming after a brief 60 second exchange with him. The first time I was in their room, a nurse was admonishing this guy for sneaking out of his room this morning and going to the Waffle House! If you have never been to Columbus, Ohio...the fact that a cancer patient could escape from his hospital bed and walk to an almost adjacent Waffle House should tell you all you need to know about our fare city. This guy is awesome. So grizzled, so life-tested. When the doctor came in to talk to him, the nurse just pulls a curtain to seperate the room...but you can still hear EVERYTHING. It's a really small room. The doctor proceeds to tell this guy in the most matter of fact way that he has stage four stomach cancer and there probably isn't much they can do for him but to manage the pain. Then he asked him if he had any family that he wanted to call. He didn't. He said it had been 15yrs or so since he had talked to anyone in his family. So, so sad. They talked for a few minutes more, about courses of action and what not. The sad affair came to and end when the doctor pulled back the curtain and excused himself...so it was just me and my brother and this stranger who just learned he was dying in the room...probably the longest 4 seconds of my life. We were this guy's family for all practical purposes...he looked at us and said "Enjoy your youth boys, enjoy your youth"....then he shuffled outside to smoke a cigarette - illegally of course.

My brother got discharged(is that the right word? Somebody get's discharged from the army, but the hospital? Maybe?) about an hour later...I still don't like hospitals, but I think I like humanity just a little bit better.

Cold War Kids - 'Hospital Beds' MP3