A HOSPITAL CHANGEOVER

IT HAS ALWAYS PUZZLED ME why people drink too much or do recreational drugs.  Perhaps it’s what cartoonist Bill Watterson quipped in his ‘Calvin and Hobbes’ series:  “Reality continues to ruin my life.”  I’ve never desired to escape reality.  It may occasionally piss me off, or cause me anxiety, but one has to just deal with it.  It is what it is, as some say.  It is life.  I was in the hospital this past week due to dehydration and spent a couple of days on IVs.  I knew that I had to change my ileostomy appliance while there, since the timing sucked, and I wasn’t looking forward to it.  The IV was making my discharge not only constant but liquidy.  I figured I’d have a mess on my hands.  Something told me, just after 3 AM the third morning, that I might have a brief output respite of which to take advantage.  I got my stuff out, laid it beside the bathroom sink, whipped the old one off and slapped a clean one on, wham, bam, I’ll be damned, I finished in a couple of minutes and didn’t discharge a drop.  My stoma behaved like a good little boy.  The dreaded ‘reality’ I’d expected never materialized.  I don’t know if the “something told me” aspect of it all was mere luck, the product of an experienced hunch, or maybe just a little bit of each.  Mr. Reality, as we all know, gets his kicks with us sometimes.  

Hello HenryM.
Thanks for your rendition for today, which has prompted me to write yet another rhyme in the series on 'fairness' & (this time coupled with)'reality'.
Keep up the great work in sharing you musings.
Best wishes

Bill

FAIRNESS & REALITY

Reality for some seems fair,
for others, fairness isn’t there,
so what does reality mean?
And, how is it diversely seen?

Reality is a concept
where people think and they expect
things to be factual, and not
all those fake things we’ve now got.

Lies, deceit, and cheating might 
seem to some to be alright
because they’ll likely benefit
and so, they don’t want to stop it.

Their reality is such
that fairness doesn’t mean too much
and has no value in their world
so, unfairness will be unfurled.

Reality for other folk
who have to bear that heavy yoke
of moral responsibility
won’t be the same reality.

Those people who want to be kind
will feel that weight upon their mind
and see that what they wish to be 
they cannot always guarantee.

In their reality, they work
and, rarely ever will they shirk
their need to be responsible
instead of being horrible.

Reality for them, is ‘caring’,
reality for them is sharing,
so that the world’s a better place
and fair for all in time and space.

                                                B. Withers 2024

HenryM, with all due respect, if there's something you remain "puzzled" about (people drink too much or do recreational drugs), kindly refrain from giving meaningless advice:  "...one has to just deal with it. ..." I'll refrain from efforts to educate you but, having a very late life onset of alcoholism, I can tell you this: you're full of shite. 😏

Hello B@t Lady.
Thank you for your response to this post.
I have read and reread it to try to understand your point of view. 
However, I did not perceive HenryM. as ‘giving advice’ in his musings.
It would seem (to me) that the only thing that ‘MIGHT’ be interpreted as doing that, maybe in the use of the word ‘one’, instead of ‘I’ in the sentence   "...one has to just deal with it. ...".
The Oxford Dictionary’s definition of ‘one’ (in this context) is: ‘Single and integral in number’.
Therefore,  your interpretation/perception of HenryM referring to more than himself might be erroneous. 
On the other hand, your comment that: “I can tell you this: you're full of shite”. Appears to be an assertion that you ‘know’ that what you ‘know’ is true. 
It also appears to imply that you are being offensive towards HenryM and his musings.
I find this type of offensive comment quite unacceptable (on a site like this where people are encouraged to talk openly, without the threat of abusive responses). 
I interpreted your brief assertion to be an attempt at verbal, personal abuse (which in my opinion) is a form of ‘bullying’. 
Personally, I respond adversely, to people ‘telling’ or trying to ‘teach’ me things in ways that feel like they are ‘bullying’. However, I would not respond by hurling abuse at them, but would simply point out what I think they are doing that might be annoying, aggravating, and/or unacceptable (usually in rhyming verse).

If I had interpreted HenryM’s post in the way that you did. Then my own response might have been:-.." I'll refrain from efforts to educate you (but having a very late life onset of alcoholism), if you refrain from trying to give me advice  that I think is meaningless.”

It seems to be (an emotional response) ‘illogical’ to ‘tell’ someone that they are ‘full of shite’ in such a definitive way, without substantial evidence to support such an assertion.
Sometimes, when we have a personal, emotional connection to a subject, we become over-sensitised to what we ‘think’ people are communicating. This can lead to a misinterpretation of what is meant.
I hope that you will interpret my response as an attempt to help and enable you to see HenryM’s post from a different perspective.

I also hope that HenryM. will continue his musings, as I have found them interesting, amusing, educational and occasionally stimulating me to write musing of my own (in rhyme). 

Best wishes

Bill
 

On a lighter note... it is not possible for Henry to be "full of shite" as he may be the king of ostomates, having had one for more years than most of us... meaning he is the most "shiteless"... jb

Living with Your Ostomy | Hollister

Hope you are hydrated again - keep those liquids going

BW

Fair points all, Bill, but you might have simply told me that I'm full of shite😆  I stand by my "full of shite" remark not as bullying but as calling BS when I see it. I expect the same from others if I'm spouting BS.  By the way, I DO know that what I know is true. I know this from a long and successful career in psychiatric nursing, long before my personal problems with alcohol began. My sobriety comes from understanding addiction and its treatment, not from any glib advice to "just deal with it."

Hello B@tLady.
Thank you for your response to my post and for your explanation of your perspective.
I do not think that I could (or would) ever say that you (or anyone else) is ‘full of shite’, as I believe that one person’s perspective holds as much validity for them as someone else’s might for themselves. 
Perspectives are not facts but opinions, which are formed by many varied and complex processes. Everybody is entitled to their opinions except (in my opinion) when they intend to (or unintentionally) harm someone else. 
I can appreciate your desire to call out ‘BS, because it is often my desire to call out anything that I perceive as ‘bullying’. I am therefore grateful to you that you have clarified that bullying was not your intention.
I have re-read HenryM’s post yet again, but still do not get the impression that he was trying to give anyone else ‘glib advice’. 
His musings appear to be almost entirely about himself, which, ‘if’ it was a lot more negative in tone, would have possibly qualified as a ‘rant’.
I base my perspective on the number of times he mentions or implies ‘me’ & ‘I’ in his post (22), yet never once mentions or implies giving advice to others. 
His musings (as they so often do), appear to reflect the concept of ‘talking to himself’ and, possibly recapping and reinforcing any advice that ‘he’ feels ‘he’ needs to bear in mind.
The fact that he chooses to share his musings with the likes of us, seems (to me)  to be a gesture of friendly, neutral correspondence, rather than an attempt at some sort of arrogant ‘teaching/telling’ repartee.
However, we each interpret these things in our own ways so, who knows which perspectives are ‘right or wrong’?

Best wishes

Bill