A proud Chicano father stood guard over his family. His twenty-two year old wife had been admitted for a hernia operation and was waiting for transportation from the Emergency Room to the Surgical Ward. Their five year old boy stood in front of me, cur
ious about my sketchpad, and an infant sat on the gurney beside his mother.
As I worked on my drawing, the baby became cranky and hungry from the long wait. I asked an attendant if she could get the baby something to eat from the staff refrigerator. She came back with two Jellos, one for each child. I was pleased with her se nsitivity, which seemed inconsistent with the surroundings. The father said he worked as a night welder.
Same young mother waiting for x-rays before surgery, three days later.
His sister would care for the children at night during his wife's hospital stay. Three days later, the same woman was still waiting for X-Rays. Because she spoke no English, the Black woman in the adjacent bed translated my conversation to her. I was impressed with her patience. In contrast to the Emergency Room, the slowness of t he ward seemed to match her placid life. I suggested that perhaps she could use the time to pick up a little English.
Department of Emergency Medicine
