Of course she's not

Heard the familiar, but rare, clack-clack-clack of high heels on the tiled locker-room floor this morning.  Into view stepped a young woman with a gorgeous pair of black-patent stilettos.  "Great shoes," I said as I walked by.  "Nice to see a Calgary woman in a pair of stylish heels."  She turned and thanked me.  It was then I caught the European accent. 

"Oh, you're not from Calgary," I laughed.  "No I am from Hungary."  Of course you are, hence the fashionable footwear.  "I love shoes," she said.  "So do I," I replied.  We agreed they make an outfit and she looked great.  "Can you imagine a pair of flats with this dress?" she said.  Certainly not.

The rest of the women within earshot dressing for work, but not donning high heels, ignored our conversation, pretending they couldn't hear it. 

On another note, had occasion to spend most of the day in the emergency department of Foothills Hospital (don't ask why).  What a zoo, but the staff are superb.  It's the patients who leave a little to be desired.  The guy across the room had been whacked in the head with an axe during a drunken brawl.  He was obviously still drunk.  The fact that he was native underscored the mess these people are in.  But he was chatting away with the nurses and doctors as it he had nothing more than a scratch.  Wait 'til he sobers up.

Another native was unconscious on a stretcher, waiting for a bed.  He looked as if he'd been punched up pretty badly.  Then there was the young female heroin addict (white) in the next bed who was back again after an earlier "episode" a week ago.  You can't help but overhear, curtains being the only "walls".  She was totally out-of-it and ripping through tax dollars like sixty. 

All these patients had been brought in by police, who had to stay around for hours some reason.  EMS was there too, giving these acute cases the most time and attention.  Your tax dollars at waste, folks.  One of the nurses filled me in on the horror stories that show up every day.  People with the sniffles, people who are constipated, people who have a cold, people with mild flu, people with headaches.  It's unreal!  And here's me, hesitating about going there.  Was our case severe enough?  Would we be wasting their time?  Turns out we had to be there, but everyone else's ailments were either self-inflicted or not serious.

"Your tests all came back negative and your CT scan showed nothing," said one doctor to a woman who had back pain.  "We're discharging you."  "But my back still hurts," she wailed.  OMG, was all I could think when contemplating what her visit must have cost.

In spite of it all, the staff were absolutely top-drawer.