By Salome Gitoho
February 2020
Hospital receptions can be a very interesting place to be that is if you are not seriously sick. My visit today is not that serious and apart from the fact that I have the use of one eye today I am in good health and the only thing that has brought me here today is my kind of work.
You see as a trainer and facilitator you have to stand in front of people and how you look whether we like it or not affect the reception of the audience and so I have come for a quick fix. This eye glued together by a sty has to be working in two days; I must make a positive impression on the group I am meeting. It is said that eye contact is extremely important during communication and conversation. When you stand in front of an audience they listen to your words as much as they do your eyes and body movement. In fact sometimes body language says even more than the spoken words. In my training, I have always maintained that one must make eye contact with the person you are talking to and this is an indicator that you are actively listening and paying attention. How then was I to make eye contact with a sealed eye?
We are all sitting facing one side with a smart screen showing all the service cubicles and directions on where respective ticket holders should go. I look at the ticket I picked at the reception then at the screen and realize that there are at least 12 people before me assuming we are all headed to triage. My structure based personality starts counting people and the activities ahead of me. I have to go to triage and billing before I can go through the coveted entrance A, it is written in capital letters as if to signify its importance.
Every so often the voice comes through “ ticket number B030 proceed to triage 1; ticket number P029 proceed to reception 1; ticket number B031 proceed to triage 2; ticket number adm054 proceed to admissions, on and on it goes on. A quick glance at my ticket and I question my decision to come to hospital instead of going for over the counter medication. A quick look at my eye and I discard that thought immediately. I look around and everyone is busy on their phones something I have promised myself not to do so I get out my notebook and start scribbling furiously. This attracts the attention of my neighbor who is trying hard to see what I am writing, in her defense I reason that I am the odd one out as everyone else is on the phones so she must be wondering which planet I come from. I notice she has a running nose.
The voice comes on again, ticket number B019 proceed to entrance A, that catches my attention and I look up to see the lucky winner! I notice that I am not the only one looking at the lucky winner with envy. While I am looking up I notice the beehive of activities, patients still coming in; some wheeled in, others walking majestically, staff moving with papers and files from billing to admissions and back, nurses walking purposefully from one end to the other, doctors with their stethoscopes hanging on their necks walk past as if going for a break. I hope that will not make the queues longer I wonder then realize how selfish that thought is and discard it, they deserve a break which they rarely get.
Then I see him and my flight mode kicks in, I notice that other patients in the waiting area have noticed him too. Though he does not have signs of a running nose, cough or flu; he is the center of attention, His features betray him; we have trained our eyes on him because we are in the time of coronavirus. I look at my nosey neighbor and we share a concerned look never mind that she is the one with a runny nose. He is escorted by a lady who looks like an aide or interpreter luckily he does not cough or sneeze and somehow that gives me some relief as I had already identified my exit route in flight. I make a mental note to read all those messages doing rounds on symptoms of the virus and what to do to protect yourself.
There is a lot of interest in hospitals if you are not very sick; I see a lady carrying two handbags; I am not surprised and fully understand her. I remember the many times I have walked around carrying two handbags in hospital; mine and my mother’s; you get a few stares mainly from the hospital security and security oriented public but most understand. There is a whole family that has brought their mother; how loving I think as they all gather round her. Then there is a young man who looks like he has been forced to come to hospital by his father, the body language.
My nosey neighbor is at it again; she looks at my book again and I put my arm across to cover what I have just written; it is about her. She is still sniffing and blowing her nose and the irony of what just happened a few minutes ago is not lost to me. Here we were judging someone by their facial features despite our coughs, sniffs and runny noses. Outwardly I look okay, the triage nurse said my BP is good my weight aaaaaah let’s just say I have to work on it. My neighbor must think I am a journalist; I do not want her to ask me a question because today unlike other times I do not want to get into conversation with anyone. I wonder if I should move.
I am worried about the sty in my eye; sty in my eye how poetic, but there is nothing poetic about the discomfort I have not to mention how I look. It is the thought of standing in front of business executives with one eye half closed that drove me here.
Ticket number …… it is now my turn to walk through the coveted entrance A and I feel like I have been called to receive an award as I match in entrance A. The doctor is holding my file and after confirming my name herds me to a cubicle. What is the problem she asks as soon as we are seated and done with the pleasantries. She is nice; I point to my eye and she says the sty. Yes the sty; anything else she asks. Nothing I say, I just need an open eye in two days’ time. That is okay she says get this ointment and it should be okay. We were done in about 7 or less minutes!
I feel like such a cheat, all the resources, time mine and theirs. I am far from done so I head to the pharmacy to pick my ointment.
I pick a new ticket at counter number 1 in the pharmacy and sit down, I know the drill so no hurry but no sooner have I taken out my notebook than I am called to counter number 3. She takes my prescription and asks me sit down as the pharmacist processes the drugs. I take my seat once again and today is a good day as I am called to counter 2. I process my payment and take my seat again, this time I am hopeful as the next time I am called will be the last step. I have not been at the hospital for some time and I note that there are some changes, there is now a window for one to get their drugs directly from the pharmacist.
I hear my name being called and am a little amused, thankfully as I exit the hospital I have regained my identity. I am no longer ticket number.., I smile to myself as I approach the counter. Apply this twice a day after washing the eye and I am done. My ointment costs all of kshs. 36.72
I take a minute to reflect on the time spent at the hospital; all the staff who attended to me. Who says there is unemployment in Kenya, I was served by a total of nine people! Two at the reception, one nurse at triage, one at billing, one doctor, three at pharmacy( counters 3,2 and the dispensing window) and finally the security guard who frisked me as I arrived. My sty better feel very special, nine professionals had to attend to it. Next time I will go straight to the chemist and buy the ointment and save all these people the hustle. Oooops I will be creating unemployment, did I say next time!
I should have listened to Pro. Google who says “In most cases a sty will begin to disappear on its own in a few days. A warm wash cloth applied to the eyelid may relieve pain and discomfort”
Then again good old professor google does not say anything about appearance, body language and quick fixes.
Vanity!
Dr. Salome Gitoho is a Leadership, Organizational Development and HR Consultant with several years’ experience.
Her working career spans the government, public, private, international NGO and hospitality sectors; consulting and academia.
She has served at leadership level in the functions of HR, Operations, Quality, and Standards, Strategy and Business Development in several organizations.
1 Comment
This is my first time pay a visit at here and i am actually pleassant to read all at single place. Hershel Porietis