One of the aspects of travel nursing that I have continued to say that I enjoy so much is meeting people from different backgrounds and cultures. The past couple of nights at work a couple of us tore down the walls of prejudice and really talked about some of the racism that still exists.
I have always said that movies such as The Help reinforce that I would have had a very tough time living during segregation. I grew up in a predominantly white area and really only had a couple of African American kids in my school. So it is safe to say that I never really had any AA friends growing up.
Then when I went to college, my sophomore year I had a roommate that was AA. That was a culture shock in a lot of ways, but I learned so much from LaNervia. First off, it took me a couple of weeks to even pronounce her name correctly. Secondly, I learned that AA's have extremely thin skin, so LaNervia said; as the reason that the thermostat was set at 80 degrees. Needless to say, I spent much of that year with my window open dropping the temperature out of sauna range. Just little old Northern Kentucky University opened this girl's eyes in 1995. Geez, that sounds forever ago.
The last couple of days I was working with a gentleman from the African country Malawi,and a young lady that grew up in the inner city streets of Baltimore, a young lady that grew up in Massachusetts and this gal whom grew up in a pretty rural area. The discussions that ensued were interesting.
A is a very dark black man with a huge heart of gold, that exudes nothing but generosity and goodwill. I just adore him. He calls me his work wife and we are always cutting up together and having a good time.
J is the young lady that grew up in inner city Baltimore. She is quite a bit younger than A and I, but definitely has street smarts that speak volumes of experience. She listens to my Baltimore tales and just shakes her head. She feels that Baltimore gets a bit more of a bad rap than it deserves at times. I don't how much creedence she holds as Baltimore consistently makes the top 10 list year after year.
For those of you that don't know much about where I grew up, it was a small town in Indiana that only had a blinking red light for the longest time. We had a mini mart, that somehow is still standing in the same building as it was when I was younger, a tiny post office, a couple of churches and a community of individuals that pretty much knew everyone. It was a very safe community that had lots of kids riding their bikes on country roads and playing football, baseball, and basketball outside until the sun went down. The good ole days, remember? When it was safe to stray from your parents for hours on end and kids actually did play outside. It was a farming area with horses, cows, guineas and peacocks wandering out in the road. I just have such fond memories of my time in Greenville. As I spent time with my mom, I also got to experience other small towns such as Georgetown and Corydon that also had that small community feel to them.
I set all this preface just to expose how we all came from very different backgrounds and we have come together here in Baltimore. I was really brought up not to see color. I can clearly see that A is much darker than I, but I am more interested in the culture that he brings to the table.
A told a story of when he was in nursing school and he had a white female that was adamant that he not care for her. Several other nurses accused this young lady of being very prejudiced and wrong in her actions. Albert said that he figured she had her reasons and chose to move on and not dwell on it. Later on the young lady asked to speak to A alone and he gladly went in to speak with her. She went on to explain that she really wasn't prejudice; but that she had been raped my a black man. A said that the 0.5% that was angry with her, yet he knew there had to be a better reason in this day and age, melted. He said he wanted so badly to rectify the wrongs that this gentleman had done and try to rebuild this girls image of an upstanding black man in her eyes; yet he knew he couldn't. She didn't want anyone to know that she had been raped and had come to terms with the fact that unless she was willing to go down that painful path each time, she unfortunately had to bear the cross of coming across as prejudice anytime a black male came in to be her nurse or aid. Wow! That made me think!
I have noticed that it really isn't whom the ethnic group is around me, but being anywhere that I am majorly the minority isn't really scary; it's just a feeling that is palpable. Not a feeling that I ever noticed in the midwest. Does that make sense? It is actually a very humbling experience. I have felt this feeling once when I was in a Target in SC in a predominantly AA neighborhood. I experienced it in California when I was in a grocery store and everyone but me was Asian or Middle Eastern. I noticed it again when I was bike riding a couple of weeks ago through a very Hacidic Jewish community and I rode through just as synagogue was letting out. I was like a needle in a haystack.
It was interesting to me though to hear what a scary situation would be for me versus A and J; just having different skin colors. A situation that would alarm me is if I found myself driving through or walking through a predominantly AA neighborhood, project area alone. I just feel like this Irish girl would stick out and just be asking for trouble. That is a situation that would put me on alert. J said that 9.9/10 times I would be just fine because I would probably be viewed as an undercover cop. I had never thought of it that way. Or, unless I was disturbing them for drugs or making a scene, why would I be bothered? I realize that bad things can happen anywhere. It is just best to be cautious and wary of your surroundings.
Their walk in my shoes would be a situation in which they were in an upper middle class white area and be the only black individual there. They state that they often feel that they are targeted that they are going to steal something or encounter an individual that still holds very prejudice views. It blows my mind that this would even still happen. But, I believe them that it does.
It was just so interesting to me the dichotomy of what we both feared in the same situations. I feared bodily harm or just being messed with, where A and J feared character assassination. Both are equally devastating and both exist everyday sadly. It is just sad that the preface for such actions can start skin deep.
Saturday, October 19, 2013
Monday, October 14, 2013
Monday, October 7, 2013
The Big Apple
What does a five day weekend mean to a travel nurse? It means one must do something more than just a day trip. So, I booked a trip to New York City for the weekend. I walked a half mile from my apartment down to the Light Rail station and rode that downtown to Penn Station, where I picked up the Bolt bus to NYC. It was quite the public transportation weekend. Once there, I took the subway, rode a bike, and walked to get around town.
After my arrival on Friday, I promptly hit the ground running. I met with the kind lady that took me in for the weekend and she helped me find my way to the subway. I rode the subway uptown to Washington Park, where I was to meet a friend's son for lunch. While waiting for Gabe, in the park, I saw a very interesting lady holding a sign reading "Wanna Chat?" Suggested donation $1. I circled her like a hawk for a few minutes to see if anyone was going to take her up on her offer. So I decided if I had a dollar in my wallet I would take her up on it. My thought, "I'm in NY. Who is going to judge me? Nobody!" Once I was sitting next to Nancy, I can't tell you how many people wanted our photo. I am probably all over facebook. And yes, I am signing autographs! :-) I chatted with her about her craziest customer, her youngest customer, how profitable this job was for her, and if Washington Park is her go to spot. She has only been doing this since April, she usually mingles with people in Central Park, her youngest customer was 3, she tries to listen more than give advice, and yes this is her only source of income. How is that possible. She did mention that she lives in Harlem, though. She was a very nice lady and I found my calling post nursing.
After lunch and mingling with the locals, I jumped on the subway and went downtown to ride the ferry over to Staten Island to get as close as I could to the Statue of Liberty. It was a very nice 25-30 minute ride over on the ferry and I got a really nice view of Lady Liberty. Well worth the trip should you ever find yourself visiting NYC during another government shutdown and unable to actually visit Ellis Island.
Since there was still daylight after seeing the Statue of Liberty, I figured I better head uptown to see Time Square at dusk, as that is the best time to get pictures before the bright lights mess with your camera. I sat on the red steps of the TKTS pavilion where Broadway tickets are sold apparently, and just took in the sights and sounds of New York City. I found myself sitting next to a very nice lady named Julie from New Zealand and she of course had questions for me regarding the government shutdown and our healthcare system. I diverted her quickly referring to how beautiful New Zealand always is in photos. :-) I was yet again amazed at how very few of us were just sitting there absorbing the sights. So many people were on their phones. Couples sitting together weren't even speaking with each other. Julie pointed out the fact that we have made camera's so small anymore and now the phones are getting bigger and bigger. Funny how the trends come and go.
Saturday I spent much of my day in Central Park and walking around in Time Square. Central Park is a crazy busy park. People are running, walking, biking, there are carriage rides, fitness classes in the open fields, tag football, frisbee, Thai Chi and Yoga classes, rock climbing ........ You name it and it was probably going on there. That evening I went to Rockefeller Center and went up 69 stories to the top of the Observation Deck. What a magnificent view! It was a little bit cloudy, but it was still very cool. I would recommend this to anyone. This is recommended over the Empire State building because then the Empire State building is in your picture. Oh, I forgot, today I also went down to the Brooklyn Bridge and walked all the way across it and down to the waterfront on the other side. That was A L-O-T of walking. That is one cool bridge. Just a quick factoid for my Cincinnati friends, the Suspension bridge in Cincinnati was built by the same gentleman that built the Brooklyn Bridge. I did not know this. The Suspension bridge was built about 17 years prior to Brooklyn.
Sunday I did an NBC studio tour as well as a Rockefeller Center tour. Those Rockefeller's, they had some money! And they loved art. On the Rockefeller tour I learned that NEWS stands for none other than north, east, west, south. Really? I can't decide if that is clever or not. The Rockettes, yep you called it, named after the Rockefeller's. The Rockefeller's were big into gold, limestone, and very dark marble ( I forget the type of marble. It was black in color.), symmetrical clean lines, and neon lights; hence the lights on the Radio Center Music Hall. The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree can be no more than 80 feet tall because one year it was 100 feet and when they were bringing it into the square they crashed it through the Today show studio window. Oops! There is a gentleman that flies all over the country looking for the perfect Rockefeller Christmas tree. People can submit pics of their tree but ultimately this gentleman will land his helicopter one day, knock on the owner's door and request the presence of their tree in Rockefeller Center. They always have the option to decline and his search begins again. The tree is 100% green as it is lit with LED lights that refuel during the daylight hours from solar panels. What a tradition! I was excited to see the Today show studio for some reason.
I also did an NBC studio tour, which was quite neat. I had the opportunity to see where Brian Williams does the NBC Nightly News. He is the most watched TV personality in America. And a good job he does too. His studio was very cold. They don't cool it with AC, as it is bad for the cameras. They pump in refrigerated air. I guess when you have 3*4 cameras worth $250,000 you want to take care of it. I also got to see the studio where Late Night with Jimmy Fallon is taped as well as SNL. The guests on SNL have a plaster mold made of their face that takes an hour to form while they breathe through straws, so that the makeup artists can master their makeup not in person. With each skit change on SNL they have 60-90 seconds between makeup and wardrobe changes; otherwise they have to go to commercial or skip the skit all together. It is so neat to learn the inner workings of all these shows.
So I had a great but exhausting weekend! I am excited to be back to my home away from home, here in Baltimore. Pics to follow soon. I have to work in the morning, so this girl is headed to bed.
After my arrival on Friday, I promptly hit the ground running. I met with the kind lady that took me in for the weekend and she helped me find my way to the subway. I rode the subway uptown to Washington Park, where I was to meet a friend's son for lunch. While waiting for Gabe, in the park, I saw a very interesting lady holding a sign reading "Wanna Chat?" Suggested donation $1. I circled her like a hawk for a few minutes to see if anyone was going to take her up on her offer. So I decided if I had a dollar in my wallet I would take her up on it. My thought, "I'm in NY. Who is going to judge me? Nobody!" Once I was sitting next to Nancy, I can't tell you how many people wanted our photo. I am probably all over facebook. And yes, I am signing autographs! :-) I chatted with her about her craziest customer, her youngest customer, how profitable this job was for her, and if Washington Park is her go to spot. She has only been doing this since April, she usually mingles with people in Central Park, her youngest customer was 3, she tries to listen more than give advice, and yes this is her only source of income. How is that possible. She did mention that she lives in Harlem, though. She was a very nice lady and I found my calling post nursing.
After lunch and mingling with the locals, I jumped on the subway and went downtown to ride the ferry over to Staten Island to get as close as I could to the Statue of Liberty. It was a very nice 25-30 minute ride over on the ferry and I got a really nice view of Lady Liberty. Well worth the trip should you ever find yourself visiting NYC during another government shutdown and unable to actually visit Ellis Island.
Since there was still daylight after seeing the Statue of Liberty, I figured I better head uptown to see Time Square at dusk, as that is the best time to get pictures before the bright lights mess with your camera. I sat on the red steps of the TKTS pavilion where Broadway tickets are sold apparently, and just took in the sights and sounds of New York City. I found myself sitting next to a very nice lady named Julie from New Zealand and she of course had questions for me regarding the government shutdown and our healthcare system. I diverted her quickly referring to how beautiful New Zealand always is in photos. :-) I was yet again amazed at how very few of us were just sitting there absorbing the sights. So many people were on their phones. Couples sitting together weren't even speaking with each other. Julie pointed out the fact that we have made camera's so small anymore and now the phones are getting bigger and bigger. Funny how the trends come and go.
Saturday I spent much of my day in Central Park and walking around in Time Square. Central Park is a crazy busy park. People are running, walking, biking, there are carriage rides, fitness classes in the open fields, tag football, frisbee, Thai Chi and Yoga classes, rock climbing ........ You name it and it was probably going on there. That evening I went to Rockefeller Center and went up 69 stories to the top of the Observation Deck. What a magnificent view! It was a little bit cloudy, but it was still very cool. I would recommend this to anyone. This is recommended over the Empire State building because then the Empire State building is in your picture. Oh, I forgot, today I also went down to the Brooklyn Bridge and walked all the way across it and down to the waterfront on the other side. That was A L-O-T of walking. That is one cool bridge. Just a quick factoid for my Cincinnati friends, the Suspension bridge in Cincinnati was built by the same gentleman that built the Brooklyn Bridge. I did not know this. The Suspension bridge was built about 17 years prior to Brooklyn.
Sunday I did an NBC studio tour as well as a Rockefeller Center tour. Those Rockefeller's, they had some money! And they loved art. On the Rockefeller tour I learned that NEWS stands for none other than north, east, west, south. Really? I can't decide if that is clever or not. The Rockettes, yep you called it, named after the Rockefeller's. The Rockefeller's were big into gold, limestone, and very dark marble ( I forget the type of marble. It was black in color.), symmetrical clean lines, and neon lights; hence the lights on the Radio Center Music Hall. The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree can be no more than 80 feet tall because one year it was 100 feet and when they were bringing it into the square they crashed it through the Today show studio window. Oops! There is a gentleman that flies all over the country looking for the perfect Rockefeller Christmas tree. People can submit pics of their tree but ultimately this gentleman will land his helicopter one day, knock on the owner's door and request the presence of their tree in Rockefeller Center. They always have the option to decline and his search begins again. The tree is 100% green as it is lit with LED lights that refuel during the daylight hours from solar panels. What a tradition! I was excited to see the Today show studio for some reason.
I also did an NBC studio tour, which was quite neat. I had the opportunity to see where Brian Williams does the NBC Nightly News. He is the most watched TV personality in America. And a good job he does too. His studio was very cold. They don't cool it with AC, as it is bad for the cameras. They pump in refrigerated air. I guess when you have 3*4 cameras worth $250,000 you want to take care of it. I also got to see the studio where Late Night with Jimmy Fallon is taped as well as SNL. The guests on SNL have a plaster mold made of their face that takes an hour to form while they breathe through straws, so that the makeup artists can master their makeup not in person. With each skit change on SNL they have 60-90 seconds between makeup and wardrobe changes; otherwise they have to go to commercial or skip the skit all together. It is so neat to learn the inner workings of all these shows.
So I had a great but exhausting weekend! I am excited to be back to my home away from home, here in Baltimore. Pics to follow soon. I have to work in the morning, so this girl is headed to bed.
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