Last year I went and listened to an amazing speaker named Tom Pomeranz. One of his maxims is "An institution is not a place - it's a state of mind." Pomeranz believes that people who are placed in environments in which they feel powerless will often take control of anything they can. And most of the time, these "acts of defiance" do not make a whole lot of sense to anyone else.
One night I woke up and saw a nurse sitting at the end of my hospital bed. She was silently writing in my chart.
I was wearing a large plastic oxygen mask that blew a cool mist into my face. It was attached by an elastic band and the long hose extended off the side of my bed. In my own act of defiance I took off the mask and threw it to the ground. The nurse got up and put it back on.
She sat back down and began charting. Again, I grabbed my mask and tossed it aside. She shot me a look. She got up from her chair and attached the mask back in its place, this time scolding me. She warned me not to do it again.
She sat down. I waited a few moments and then tore off the mask and threw it to the floor. But this time she did not budge from her seat. Instead, she continued writing.
I asked “Nurse?” She did not answer.
After a moment I urged again, “Nurse?” No response. I could hear misting in the distance...
I began to panic. My breathing became rapid.
Fear in my voice I repeated, “Nurse?” Without looking up she calmly - but sternly answered, “You’re okay.”
My heart was pounding, increasing as every second ticked by. I was surely going to die from oxygen deprivation!
Oh my gosh...Oh my gosh... I NEED MY OXYGEN!
I CAN'T BREATH!
THIS NURSE IS CRAZY! SOMEONE HELP ME!
After a few minutes she got up and gently placed my mask back on my face. My heart rate and breathing instantly returned to normal. My panic attack, of course, had been entirely self-induced. She returned to her chair.I closed my eyes and breathed in my oxygen.
And, finally, she was able to finish her paperwork in peace.
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