Most selfish behaviour

Emp_Fab

Regrettably, I've had another stay in hospital.  I've been feeling rather breathless for a week or two then significantly wobbly on Thursday.  Friday, this was accompanied by chest pain, going very pale & cold and the highest blood pressure I've ever had.  Given my history, it was prudent to go to A&E.  I'll spare you the details of the glacially-slow progress through the NHS, but eight and a quarter hours after arriving in A&E, I'm finally in a bed on a ward at 2:45 AM, wired up to a 24h ECG monitor.  The end result is that all the cardiac tests were negative and they discharged me today, but this isn't about that.

It's about the most selfish behaviour I've ever witnessed.

So, here I am, in a cardiac ward in the middle of the night.  Beds full of patients with heart conditions.  At 6:30AM, I'm rudely awoken by the sound of a mobile going off.  The ringtone is the two-tone airhorns of an American 18 wheeler.  I look over to the next bed and can see the guy fumbling with a phone.  'Poor bastard!' I think - one of his family has lent him their phone while he's in hospital, they're ringing and he has no idea how to answer it or get it to stop !!

After 30 seconds of this, I'm getting well pissed off - it's at full volume.

Then the ringtone changes - I can hear people talking now.....

It's not a ringtone at all - the cunt is WATCHING A FUCKING FILM !!!!  AT FULL VOLUME !!  - On a cardiac ward that is still dark, everyone is asleep, and 30 seconds earlier the only sounds were heart monitors gently beeping in the silence, accompanied by the occasional snore.

He stopped after I remonstrated with him.  Un-fucking-believeable.  That was the singularly most selfish act I've ever witnessed.

heavyrocker

In an effort to be diplomatic, he might not have been firing on all cylinders given the circumstances?

Emp_Fab

He probably isn't now - I unplugged his drip on my way out.

tone1

I tried to keep the noise down, but Convoy is my Favourite film  

Edit... I lied, my Favourite films are Mary Poppins & Cool Hand Luke...

fastonebaz

I'm guessing that if you end up on a cardiac ward,  end of life thoughts cross your mind.  And this chap wanted to to tick something off his bucket list before he kicked the bucket and you prevented it.  So yes,  I agree this sound like and incredibly selfish act.  

axisus

Poor behaviour, yes.

ThePrettyDamned

It could be reasonable to assume they were perhaps suffering with confusion.

Still sucks for you though. 

Paul_C

Confusion or not, I'd have been tempted to throw something at him.

I got woken at 6:25am the other week by a text asking if someone could drop a guitar off at lunchtime.

Because I didn't reply until after I got up (around 9am) he hadn't taken his guitar to work, so didn't drop it off - I still haven't heard back from him . . .

MattBanshee

fastonebaz said:

I'm guessing that if you end up on a cardiac ward,  end of life thoughts cross your mind.  And this chap wanted to to tick something off his bucket list before he kicked the bucket and you prevented it.

If I had that experience, I'd be assisting him with the bucket-kicking, not preventing it.

Sassafras

If he was watching Blade Runner 2049 he has my sympathy. Inaudible dialogue, everything else at nuclear explosion volume levels.

Emp_Fab

For those who think he was some frail, confused old man - let me correct you.  He was completely lucid.  He had several conversations on the phone that made that quite clear.  He was just a selfish arsehole.  I'm taking your comment @fastonebaz as a joke - obviously.  Later on yesterday, he did it again - but at 11am.  He was watching a football match - with Dutch commentary.  I asked him if he had any headphones and he grunted something I took to be 'no' so I asked him if he could please turn it down a bit.  He turned it off and childishly discarded his phone onto the table.  Whenever he then walked past my bed, he would tut loudly !

He was nothing more than a self-centred, passive-aggressive cunt.  I apologise for the use of that word, but in this case it is deserved.

Funkfingers

You should have "accidentally" discharged a loaded bed pan in the direction of the guy with the telephone. Probably somebody under forty. They all seem to be that self-centred these days.

Fretwired

@Emp_Fab .. you need to calm down, relax and get some ear plugs.

PhilW1

Heartless?

Blaendulais

@Emp_Fab The modern NHS is by necessity feudal.  Its survival of the fittest.  He challenged the ward and only you responded.  He reestablished his top dog slot when you were discharged although you have probably killed him after stopping his drip.  What a way to go tho

thumpingrug

Hang on a tick, let me get this straight.  You "remonstrated" with him.  REMONSTRATED!!!   Fuck that, you're in a hospital full of all sorts of equipment.  At the very least you should have sown his eyeballs shut or got a big fuck off needle and injected him with a  big bubble air.  Either that or just tossed the twat out of the window.   Remonstrated.  I've never heard the like.  

Emp_Fab

I did think of taking his phone out of his hands and plopping it into his water jug - but he could have had another heart attack or something and then I'd be in all sorts of shit.

Fretwired said:

@Emp_Fab .. you need to calm down, relax and get some ear plugs.

No.  I was the youngest on the ward - other guys were pretty frail.  He needed to be stopped.  What annoyed me even more was after I got him to stop it, a nurse walked past, helping one of the more frail guys to the loo and I did the "WTF ??!!!" face and hand gestures / animated double-take in the direction of the arsehole (who had his curtains closed around his bed), and she just replied with a weak half-smile, "What can you do eh ?" shoulder-shrug.

I'll fucking tell you what you can do !!  You can warn the fucker and show some bloody steel woman !!  Your job is to care for all of the patients - at that means intervening if one of them is causing discomfort for the rest.  I wonder would she have done anything if I decided to practice the tuba at 6.30am ?

What the fuck happened to the NHS ?  Back in the day there was a Ward Sister who would run the place with an iron fist, and if she wasn't tough enough, the Matron.

Blaendulais

Emp_Fab said:

I did think of taking his phone out of his hands and plopping it into his water jug - but he could have had another heart attack or something and then I'd be in all sorts of shit.

Fretwired said:

@Emp_Fab .. you need to calm down, relax and get some ear plugs.

What the fuck happened to the NHS ?  

Chronic fucking underinvestment, lack of doctors and nurses as it is a fucking horrendous place for people to work quite often

NorthernGooner

Emp_Fab said:

I did think of taking his phone out of his hands and plopping it into his water jug - but he could have had another heart attack or something and then I'd be in all sorts of shit.

Fretwired said:

@Emp_Fab .. you need to calm down, relax and get some ear plugs.

No.  I was the youngest on the ward - other guys were pretty frail.  He needed to be stopped.  What annoyed me even more was after I got him to stop it, a nurse walked past, helping one of the more frail guys to the loo and I did the "WTF ??!!!" face and hand gestures / animated double-take in the direction of the arsehole (who had his curtains closed around his bed), and she just replied with a weak half-smile, "What can you do eh ?" shoulder-shrug.

I'll fucking tell you what you can do !!  You can warn the fucker and show some bloody steel woman !!  Your job is to care for all of the patients - at that means intervening if one of them is causing discomfort for the rest.  I wonder would she have done anything if I decided to practice the tuba at 6.30am ?

What the fuck happened to the NHS ?  Back in the day there was a Ward Sister who would run the place with an iron fist, and if she wasn't tough enough, the Matron.

You've been watching too many 'Carry On' films s on. 

Sassafras

We need some authority on the wards:

Handsome_Chris