Due to the ongoing health crisis, everyone in public schools in my state is required to wear face coverings. The community I teach in currently has the highest rate for the disease in question, as well as a large non-compliance level. My coworkers are lax in enforcement of the rules, with many outright insubordinate themselves, making it difficult for those of us that try to enforce the rules appropriately.

Fortunately, there were no repercussions the other day when I instructed a student to put on his mask.

He said he wouldn’t because:

Student: “Masks don’t work, anyway.”

Me: “They don’t work if you don’t wear them. Ask your parents. I’m sure they’ll agree.”

A woman collapsed at my register. Naturally, we rush to get a first aider and call an ambulance. Because she collapsed in front of the register in the middle of a transaction, I had to close the register down and watch her to make sure she didn’t hurt herself more or didn’t get stepped on or run over by other customers.

A customer came over, and in spite of there being plenty of other registers open, he decided he wanted to use my closed register.

Me: “Sir, this register is closed due to a medical emergency.”

Customer: “She’s just drunk. Leave her and come serve me!”

The more I told him to go to another register, the more he laid into the woman, calling her a drunk, a druggie, an attention seeker, etc. The woman really did not look well. I don’t know what was wrong with her, but the paramedics looked worried and rushed her into the ambulance.

The worst part of this is that even if she were a drug addict or drunk, this dude felt she should be left to die so he could buy beer and Doritos. I’m pretty used to some selfish and entitled behaviour, but this one was terrible even for entitled customers.

I am on the train to go back to my parents after a week in boarding school and a ticket inspector passes. He takes the opportunity to check the masks.

Ticket Inspector: “The mask on your nose, please.”

Passenger: “I am not the only one who has it like that!”

The ticket inspector checks.

Ticket Inspector: “That’s right.”

He leaves and I think he’s given up. Suddenly, a voice comes on the speakers.

Voice: “I have a message from the ticket inspector. The nose is the appendage above the mouth. The ticket inspector is going to pass by again in the lanes; if he can put a finger in your nose, you are liable for a 135€ fine.”

Several people put their masks back on correctly!

CONTENT WARNING: Violent injury

I work for a general contractor as an on-the-ground man for several small city projects. I am conducting a lock-out tag-out check when one of my people comes up to me rather slowly. 

Staff: “Sir?”

Me: “Yeah?”

Staff: “I might need to go to the hospital.”

I turn to face him. He looks totally fine, isn’t showing any sign of injury, and is standing straight up. 

Me: “Are you not feeling well?”

Staff: “No, sir. I think I have been stabbed.”

Me: “What?”

Staff: “There was a man over by the generator; I think he was stealing fuel. I stopped him and spoke to him, and I think he stabbed me when I turned around.”

At this point, I have pulled out my mobile to call 911, but I am still confused. 

Me: “You think he stabbed you?”

Staff: “Yeah. Actually, can you check?”

This man turns around and my heart falls out of my chest. Lodged in his lower back is what appears to be a jagged piece of metal with an electrical-taped handle. Blood has run into and stained both his high-vis work shirt and the vest he has on. 

Staff: “Did he get me?”

911 was called immediately. It was a few days later that I got to have a talk with the staffer. He told me he felt the blade go in, but after that, nothing at all. To this day, we don’t know if that was purely due to adrenaline or some other bodily reaction to the stabbing. 

The individual that had stabbed him was captured on the cameras another vendor used to monitor their onsite battery boxes. He was quickly identified by police and arrested. 

I do know that he was let out again and returned to our worksite. He ended up messing with another vendor and tried to stab their employee, as well. Fortunately, the employee was no pushover and ended up breaking the man’s arm and slamming his face into the side of a Toyota Tacoma so hard he indented the bedside. 

The police responding had a laugh and told the employee that his actions would be considered self-defense, and the man was arrested again. This time, he never returned.

I work in healthcare. When you enter our hospital, you have to wear a mask. Duh, we’re a hospital. But of course, people come here trying to act smart. Just because we’re a hospital, it doesn’t mean we’ll let anything slide. We know that those “health reasons” for not wearing a mask don’t fly. We know that it’s not a HIPAA violation to ask if you’re vaccinated. But of course, some patients want to act high and mighty and righteous and are just looking for a fight. Or they are plain ignorant.

We had a patient who was insistent that the health crisis wasn’t real, even though he’d had a lengthy stay in the hospital with the illness in question.

We had a patient get mad that his mother’s appointment was rescheduled because she tested positive for the illness. He was mad because she couldn’t get Botox injections for her crow’s feet.

And then, we had this patient who called in before his daughter’s appointment.

Patient: “My daughter has [illness]. I don’t want to get it, so I’ve locked her in her room and I’m making her mother take care of her. I’ve been using hand sanitizer every hour, on the hour, and I have UV lights hanging up everywhere in the house. Anyway, I have an appointment at [time].”

Me: “I’m sorry, but we’ll have to reschedule it since someone in your household has [illness].”

He got angry.

Patient: “That’s ridiculous! I’m coming in anyway. I’ll just lie to your screeners at the front door!”

I added notes in his chart, marked “Important,” so he wouldn’t be able to.