By Papyrus and Parchment
Passing the word on paper in ancient times took a little planning. Papyrus, or herbaceous perennials, is categorized as a non-woody plant. While parchment is a by-product of animal skins from sheep, calves and goats which good students of history would know was common practice in the middle east.
Alas, I’m not trying to give a history lesson on the writing mediums used to record important events in the history of this world. I am trying to gain more acceptance of the ways in which we stay informed in so-called modern times. Gatherings are still the top form of passing important information back and forth between ourselves. While social media platforms keep us informed of many different aspects of human nature.
Whether what is passed around is good or bad, it’s a matter of a value assigned it, or we just archive what is distributed in the annals of history circa 2025. The reason for this digital post is to share a sense of warmth, respect and hope for the field of mental health. I have a few people I know of capable character that work at Peace Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky. Now, granted, the situation that happened this year, 2025, was a ‘rumble’ of sorts between patients and staff; nonetheless, it was eventually contained.
The reason I’m posting about this mental health facility is that the administration there understood that some mistakes were made in deploying the right staff, and the situation was remedied. My people, I call all who work in mental health ‘my people’, went to work there even after it happened. You know what? What?
Of course they are dedicated to elevating mental health care to a status on par with medical health care. The person I know told me that Peace realized their mistakes and implemented corrections. That’s what I’m talking about! That is an acknowledgement that nothing would be swept under the rug in order to save somebody’s reputation. If you made a mistake, own it!
Yes, my loyal users and subscribers of www.landcause.com, I have to give you an experience of mine in the mental health facility I worked in Radcliff, Kentucky. No co-worker of mine wanted to ‘staff’, ‘man’, ‘bite the bullet’, on the adolescent boys unit. It was a unit that tried every code of honor you live by. Do you know what I’m saying?
I realized that and still showed up for work when everybody was looking on the ‘staffing’ platform and finding ways to get off that assignment. From calling out or saying they couldn’t tolerate those boys more than every other day or no day at all. You know what happened to me? Some of my friends on Facebook know this, but I will share another reason why I was itching for an excuse to quit. There I said it.
When that weak ass short in height Napolean complex useless Nursing Supervisor man came at me the wrong way that fateful day that was all she wrote. I’d been showing up for work religiously without complaint every day I was scheduled, and this little punk ass man tried to assert his authority over me. Are you kidding me? I asked one of the nurses on the girls’ unit to walk me out and I quit.
I mean it was behavioral discord every shift I worked on the boys unit. All my co-workers avoided it like the plague, but I lived by a tenet of my code. What part of the code you ask? This part. ‘No body was going to run me off a job’!
That little punk ass nursing supervisor dude, I hate to call him a man because he was useless when the shit hit the fan on any unit. Whether the unit was grown men and women, or the unit was adolescent boys or girls. This nursing supervisor was useless in a ‘hold’ situation.
Let me tell everybody about a funny situation that happened at the Radcliff, Kentucky mental health facility. One of my Black female co-workers was telling me about a situation where more staff was called to a unit. One of the male techs came over was quite frankly a talkative religious man. My female co-worker said she told him this, ‘What are you going to do? Pray for him’? I told her if I was there that night I would have been rolling on the floor laughing my ass off.
Spiritually, I’m there, but if we need some muscle if the situation turns bad; I need to know I can count on you. That’s just the bottom line.
So, let me be clear. Whether we are communicating on a paper formed from grass or animal skin. I got to know this in mental health. Can you not act like you are managing or for that matter working at a McDonald’s. This ‘shit’ is real sometimes in mental health!
If you have anybody along the chain of command in mental health that is on a power trip, I suggest you make it known to the person or move on to another mental health facility that realizes the job you do can turn dangerous on a dime!
On Papyrus or parchment or on digits. Pass the word.