Conversations with Crazy People

People can be so crazy sometimes. Case in point. I just signed in for the night shift and decided to walk through the hallway to check on my friends. So i hear this woman (a patient's relative) shouting and screaming at the top of her lungs. Things like "The Minister of Health is a CORRUPT business man who has BILLIONS of DOLLARS and isn't doing anything" I brush her off and go towards the resuscitation room and see that one of the better nurses is pissed and shouting at the piece of shit hired cop (the police finally decided to grace us with their presence on 8/4/2011. This was their first appearance since the revolution started, but this is another story that I will tell soon) 

Back to the nurse. She was shouting because the woman I mentioned earlier pretty much insulted her for no reason whatsoever. So I asked the police officer why he wasn't doing anything about this. He told me that she was a woman and the police can't do anything to women. I suddenly remembered all the women that were hit or beat by the police during protests and more who were harassed when they simply needed help, but now was not the time to fucking go crazy on his shitty retort.

 So I decided on being the paragon of justice, (I was also really bored,) and decided to intervene on the nurse's behalf. I go to crazy woman and she's still shouting and just making derisive comments about everyone and everything so I simply ask:

Me:What's the problem?

Her: EVERYONE HERE IS A LIAR! THEY WANT MY BROTHER'S SON TO DIE! 

Me: Can you please lower you voice. There are other patients here and you can't really shout in the hospital.

Her:YOU CANNOT STOP ME FROM SHOUTING! I WILL SHOUT AND SHOUT UNTIL I GET MY RIGHTS!

Me: Fair enough, what happened?

At this point her son decides to tell me: Get out of it Doctor if you know what's best for you. This isn't your concern. So I told him it was and carried on talking to the crazy woman.

Her: HOW IS IT THAT YOUR HOSPITAL DOESN'T HAVE ANY BEDS IN THE INTENSIVE CARE UNIT? WHAT ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO NOW? HE'S GOING TO DIE! AND ITS ALL YOUR FAULT! I KNOW WHAT IT IS. THIS IS YOUR FAULT! THE  PEOPLE'S! YOU'RE ALL RESERVING YOUR BEDS FOR THE FUCKING REVOLUTIONARIES. WELL YOU KNOW WHAT? THEY'RE THE REASON WE'RE SCREWED NOW. YOU'RE THE REASON OUR COUNTRY HAS BECOME A SHIT PIT. 

Me (trying my best here to not laugh at the woman's insane logic): Okay can I please say something and you need to to listen to this.

Her: FINE!

Me: Listen, I understand you're going through a rough time. Your son (turned out it was her sister's son but whatever) is sick and you don't know what to do and you all thought that Kasr Al Aini must have beds. Please understand that we have no reason to lie to you. Also, understand that it doesn't matter. Revolutionary, murderer, child, star. Doesn't matter. What matters is if we have beds or not. We get thousands of patients a day, hundreds need the ICU. So I'm sorry but you need to go to another hospital.

So she left. She eventually calmed down because I talked her down and she left without causing a bigger ruckus. The funny thing is the backlash I got from the nurses and the workers. They all seemed unified in telling me I should've just left her alone completely till she ran out of breath. I like to think she shouted because no one listened but these are just speculations. 

The nurse then told me, "You should've pissed her off more."

So I laughed and asked her why. 

She said, "So that they'd hit you and we'd have another reason for closing down the ER again."  Now she was laughing, but there was a hint of honesty and I couldn't help but smile that cynical jaded smile of mine.

PS: During the revolution, when the pro-Mubarak thugs appeared in Tahrir, there were countless eyewitness confirming that they came in using ambulances from Kasr Al Aini. So we totally did support the revolution. We were toughening up the protestors.