A funny conversation happened in the hospital yesterday that ended with a story about Pitt’s Burgh, the apparent realization from a cuban man who was the milieu therapist at the time that Pittsburgh is the way it is and probably has been for a long time. For what reason he said this, I don’t know, but let’s act a bit thoughtful this morning and figure out what lead to him saying that and why he got owned by himself.
This man admitted to being born in the US as a Cuban individual. He experienced racism for that at one point by having been told even his job was not in this country. He was telling this story to other patients passing the time who didn’t seem to be much minding him other than the fact that an MT was actually talking for once and not staring at her tablet. Anyway, he walks towards me to which I retort I was born in East Germany. Nuremberg to be exact. There’s not really often even an occasion to need to tell people where you were born, but I figured that was a fitting response after listening. The conversation that followed went on in such a way as to mention that even the Liberty Tunnel in Pittsburgh has been pot bombed, to which he then started going on about how Pittsburgh was designed before cars and clearly many cities were which explains Pittsburgh’s complete chaos of road situation to him because “apparently so.” Cities with money can fix their problems and finish half-completed projects from years ago, but apparently complaining about things led to the reaction of “if you don’t like it, that’s the way it is.” Remember! Even the poorest part of the US, West Virginia, has beautiful pristine roads with no pot-holes.
I just found it an anecdote that people aren’t helpless or clueless and if you don’t like that something is the way it is, you do something constructive about it. Working your way through life pretending that you care for people as a therapist is probably missing that point (although clearly not to him, that’s his delusion).
Remember, there’s always someone to complain to, but sympathy is not what he got from me as he then clocked-off and left.