Rambling through central Illinois, pondering people who hide behind excuses.
The other day, a nurse called me out of the blue. For the past week, I have been visiting a friend at Methodist Hospital in Peoria. The nurse was informing me that my friend was being tested for COVID-19. “It may be pneumonia, but we’re doing a rapid result test for COVID, so I should be able to call you back in an hour with news,” she said.
One hour and 22 minutes later, the nurse called back. Good news. No COVID. No quarantine. No need to skip an issue of the paper. And no additional concerns for my friend, who has enough of a battle recovering from a serious stroke without facing the fickle threat of coronavirus.
Waiting those 82 minutes allowed me to ponder how many people have feared the same thing since March. What will the test result bring? How will my life change? Who do I need to call? Will this be the bad COVID or the don’t-even-know-I’ve-got-it COVID? And why would I possibly want to go back into a place where COVID is so prevalent?
So it goes all around us.
Speaking of COVID and hospitals, explain this. At Methodist, many patients are allowed one visitor during their entire stay. Not one per day. One person is named the “designated support person” and that is the only person that can visit during a patient’s entire stay. What? Yes, it makes sense to limit visitors. Nurses, CNAs, doctors and all hospital staff need to be protected. So do patients. But why not let the designated support title be passed to others periodically? Is there “science” behind this? Or just an administrator throwing darts? … Kids say the darndest things: The other night, while compiling Pages from the Past for this edition, the youngest boy stopped typing and said, “Man Dad, I wish we had a pet snake in here.” What a wonderful Christmas gift idea! … Actually, if there’s something alive under our tree this month, it had better be a puppy, not a snake. So far, black Lab negotiations have been going better than peace talks in the Mideast, but there’s still lots to work out, I am told.
In the midst of all the political intrigue still fouling the air, there are some interesting developments heating up for next spring’s local elections. One of the more intriguing races in the area is in Elmwood. At last check, four people had pulled petitions to run for mayor: former mayors Dave Courson and J.D. Hulslander along with Brandon Butler and Dave Ramsay. … Parting shot: Maybe by next spring’s election we’ll have a final decision on our U.S. president.
Contact Jeff Lampe at (309) 231-6040 or jeff@wklypost.com
