A Life Changing Moment in Time- Disaster Averted- and a Thank You

Greetings Fellow Travelers...

The hospital where I work is instituting, or actually, re-instituting, a policy against the use of cell phones at the work place. This was, apparently, after a nurse spent an hour and a half on her cell phone, at the patient's bedside, trying to re-negotiate her mortgage. According to the complaint the baby's parents were there the entire time, and actually filed the complaint.

Now, I have to say that the employee in question should absolutely be reprimanded for this. She is not being paid to talk on her cell phone. But the hospitals response, in my opinion, is overkill and ludicrous.

The revised policy states that if an employee is caught "talking or texting" during work hours their cell phone will be "confiscated for 24 hours." What, are we in kindergarten?

Anyway, I mentioned to my co-worker that I haven't had anything "confiscated" since junior high. Now comes the story of the Life Changing decision.

I was a very angry kid, for reasons you may already know. I was also very shy and introverted. I seemed to always be left out of the cool stuff and was invisible to the "cool" kids. Most kids just ignored me but one in particular went the extra mile.

He would pick on me everyday. He was a big kid, and mean, not just to me but pretty much everyone. I got picked up and laid across his shoulder a couple of times. Then he would jump up and when he landed the pain that shot through my back was indescribable. The crowd gathered to watch would laugh, but even then I knew they laughed so it would not happen to them.

One day before PE started he did something that my powers of memory refuse to divulge. That's right, I can't remember. I do remember that the coach asked who did it, and no one said a thing. Everyone was too afraid. Something welled up inside me and, for once, I was not afraid. I told the coach in front of the whole class who did it. I was tired of doing nothing. He punched me in the back as he ran by towards the track where we spent our time that day. That was it.

I decided I was going to do something about it. I had a folding buck knife with a 3 or 4 inch blade at home and he was going to pay and pay big.

I brought it to school the next day with the idea of slipping up behind him and piercing his chest to the hilt. He was not going to go home that day.

But, before I could execute my plan, my knife was confiscated by the vice principle. He just happened to see it bulging in my pocket and stopped me to investigate. No one could have told on me because I had told no one what I was going to do. He asked why I had it and I replied "protection." He wanted to know from what, but I said nothing. Looking in his eyes I could see the phenomenal mistake I almost made. Two young men would have lost their lives that day.

Shortly after that we moved to the coast. I began to consider the consequences of my actions, a lesson from the vice principle taken to heart. I hate to think how my life would have went had I succeeded in stabbing that boy.

As far as cell phone confiscation, I feel that is ridiculous. Many of us have them, well, we ALL have them, and use them responsibility- NEVER putting anything ahead of the patient. Those boneheaded enough to do stuff like the nurse mentioned above should be punished.

To the vice principle; had you not stopped me I would have taken a life and ruined mine. My whole existence would have converted to that of a dangerous and ruthless man hell-bent on destruction. So many just don't care enough to spend the time to help someone in such a way. You could have just taken the knife and said nothing, which would have only changed the weapon of choice, but you went the extra mile and dug into my brain. You tried to do more, but I wouldn't let you. But you did it all.

Thank You...