AFTER TEN YEARS
Three months after graduating the University, Susan tried to find a job at the Village Mayor's Court as a village administrator. It was the village, where Theodore had lived once. She wanted to go along with the social life. She thought that it was the time to explore new adventures and a new chapter of her life. For this purpose, she met James, who was the mayor of the village. He told her that he had started the construction of a school house, a church and some successful farms. He wanted to give a spirit of education to the land. It became a place, where many families had built their homes. He wanted to know the reason that determined her to search a job in a village. She was ready to motivate her decision. James told her that no one else wanted this job. The reason was that it was very poorly paid. She told him that her fiance has been already hired as a Math teacher at their village school and she was searching a job for being with him. James told her that the young people left the village in order to look for good jobs in the town. He advised her to be involved in every aspect of her job. He also told her that the employment of the members of the personnel was based on their qualifications.
"Everyone was hired by staff here and I will never deviate from the rules of our village. Congratulations! You got the job," he said.
"Thank you," Susan told him, smiling and expressing her happiness.
"You will start to work here tomorrow. Your first duty will be to purchase and operate a new fitness center. You will have to pick up the center's lease. You will spend some public money to cover the equipment, too. I want to know your opinion about this," said James.
"It is important to know if the center is too expensive to operate, if there are enough users and if there is sufficient staff," said Susan.
"The center isn't too expensive to operate and there is sufficient staff, but we need more users. Let's talk about the users. Generally, people dislike their appearance. If I had to pick up the real middle age, then I would probably choose the range from twenty five to seventy five years old people. The most of them are truly independent. They have their own responsibilities at twenty five years old, but most of them are dealing with some infirmities at the age of seventy five. The most of people don't get depressed at thirty years old. We can't realistically deal with this kind of depression. I think that they don't have many choices in life. They must accept themselves such as they are. A fitness center can help them a lot," said James.
"I had heard so many opinions about the middle age. I thought I ought to clearly understand them, "said Susan.
"I started to talk to people of all ages, from the youngest person to the oldest one. I asked them if they were happy or not. Slowly, a new definition of middle age began to form in my mind," said James.
"It is a moment in life, when people shift from seeing the future in terms of their potential to the opposite point of view. They see it in terms of their limitations. They fight with their limitations for a while, but they have to accept their resignation," said Susan.
"We must help them," said James, looking at her.
"I like your point of view," said Susan.
"You are a beginner in this branch and this little project will help you," said James.
After ten years of frustration, the doctor told Lisa about her incapability to conceive kids. She was trying everything to get pregnant and she supported a few miscarriages. She became very depressed, frustrated and very jealous. She had those feelings,when she looked at all her friends having children.
"I am really worried about her. She cries all the time," said Laura.
"Lisa definitely has some choices. She can adopt a child, or she can use a gestational carrier. I think it is harsh to say that she can't have children," said Marie.
"She thinks she will never be able to feel a baby growing inside of her," said Amy.
"A miscarriage can be frightening and depressing. It is natural to feel the grief over the loss of a child. Maybe she cannot psychically start again, "said Ella.
"She could start a couple of weeks, after her last bleeding had stopped, but she preferred to wait a longer period. She wanted probably to recover from her emotional trauma. She desperately needs this child, because she wants to save her relationship with Michael," said Nora.
In the kitchen, Lisa and Samantha started to talk, while they were preparing the coffee. In the middle of the discussion, Marie entered to ask about the coffee.
"Do you need help?" Marie asked Samantha.
"Well, of course that I need help." Samantha slowly turned her head and looked at Marie. Her eyes made a silent plea for gratitude. Then, she turned her head to Lisa and said, "What did you say?"
"I remember that I was sixteen years old and one night I met a man. In time, we became lovers. One day, I asked him to come home with me. I told my parents that I want to marry him and they were very surprised. I told them that I was pregnant. I wasn't sure. It was my first pregnancy. I didn't know what to do and my parents told me to go to the clinic. I was scheduled for my first scan and they confirmed my pregnancy. After that, I had a very bad time. My parents didn't accept anything, because I was too young. My man was furious. I ended up taking a tablet to get rid of the baby. Nine hours later, I went to the hospital. I was losing a lot of blood, when the doctor operated me to save my life. After that, seven years I have been trying to be pregnant, but nothing happened. I began to think that I would never be a mother," said Lisa.
"My daughter was born by emergency cesarean section. I was in labor for twenty hours. I felt very disappointed that I hadn't a natural birth. The most important thing was that the baby was healthy. I think that some doctors are a little too dogmatic. Everything they say is based on their experience. When they are not sure about the evolution of the pregnancy, all they can do is to advise their patients to be cautious," said Samantha.
"Usually, the doctors don't tell you the truth. They think that nothing is completely black or white in the medical world. The best they can do is to estimate the evolution of your pregnancy and to let you know about the risks," said Marie.
"The doctors don't know everything and I always say to everyone, who is struggling to conceive a baby - never give up your hope. I don't have children. I had wanted very much to have a child. I have felt useless for a very long time. I thought that maybe God wanted another path for me. I'm a teacher and I love the kids," said Amy.
Lisa brought the cups of coffee and put them on the table.
"By the way, Nora, how do you feel?" Samantha asked her.
"Theodore had some money and I sold the apartment, where I had lived with Michael. We bought a house for our family. We live there with Mary. It's a small house, but I hope to buy another one later. Theodore is the school's program director at a very good school in our town, at present," said Nora.
"Tell me what exactly a school program director is," Lisa wanted to know.
"I don't exactly know, but all he said is that the school program includes the development and the implementation of the master schedule, some staffing assignments, student scheduling and allocation of the resources. Theodore supervises and coordinates all the educational and counseling duties for the students and the staff of the school, "said Nora.
"What about Dan, where is he working now?" Amy asked her.
"Well, he is a doctor, my dear, he works at the hospital," said Nora.
"Tell me about Mary," continued Amy.
"She is a dentist. She will work with me. I must talk to Victor to extend our cabinet. We must build another room and we must turn it into a dental office for Mary. I must extend the house, where the dental cabinet is placed," said Nora.
"Mary is so lucky to marry Dan. You must be so happy for her, "said Amy.
"Dan is a wonderful person, my dear," said Nora.
''Of course, they are both like kids," said Amy.
"Take care, Mary can hear you. She has a very mature thinking," said Nora.
"They are still kids for me," said Amy, sighing.
Mentioning specific words about the hospital can automatically determine some people to think of the typical doctors and nurses. Although working as a doctor requires a specialist training and some qualifications, there are a few occasional opportunities to start as an assistant, allowing for a combination of study with practice. This gives many opportunities to develop the skills and to gain new qualifications, or to increase the salary prospects. There are many training and employment prospects within this work. You need to find the best position.
Dan realized that working in a hospital is not like learning in a college. He was socially challenged. He was locked up for twelve years in the college and the medical school. He had been completely cut out from the real world, until he started to believe that he was truly responsible for the life of the human beings. Starting to work in the hospital, Dan found out that some employees could act like babies and they could like some immature gossips.
"People like to talk about you behind your back. It will get back to you. Do not talk about your coworkers in a bad way. It will get back to them," said Brandon, the director of the hospital.
"There are so many ways to avoid this problem," said Dan
"It's not always a pleasant environment. If you enjoy your work in this hospital, stick with it. If you don't enjoy it, keep working at it. I think the new generation will be better than us," said Brandon.
"This hospital is an interesting place. It doesn't matter who we are, the job is just a job," said Dan
"All we can do here is to treat our patients, to cultivate our good will and to go home to our personal life," said Brandon.
"So, everything I have heard about the hospital environment is true," said Dan.
"Sometimes, the people can be on the verge of a mental breakdown. I think that this characteristic is generally inherent to the human nature and it is specifically caused by the particular problems, "said Brandon.
"We spend more time at work than we spend at home, "said Dan
"Our mission is to care for the patients. In our emergency room, many patients are indigent and they do not have their own doctors," said Brandon.
"I think that we must focus our attention on caring for them, for the purpose of treating them at a lower cost," said Dan.
"The lower cost is necessary, but the patient's health is very important. By the way, we can reduce the length of the hospital stay, we can oversee the discharge planning and we can improve the contact between the hospitals and the home care agencies. This way, we can have enough money for good treatment results," said Brandon.
"Moreover, it is a good idea to create a separate group of some hospital based physicians," said Dan.
"This way, we can avoid the reduction of the important costs by cutting back the money we spend to pay some services. Moreover, this decision can eliminate some concerns about the safety of the patients," said Brandon.
"The pharmacists can lease their space in the building," said Dan.
"You're right. A temporary problem is that the hospital has hired a lot of assistant doctors and the new medical building is scheduled to be finished only in June," said Brandon.
"Until the building is finished, it is going to be a little tight, but I see about one hundred patients each week and those second doctors can help me a lot," said Dan.
"I am very glad that I found someone so energetic like you," said Brandon.
"I am so excited to know this," said Dan, seemingly to himself.
"Excellent," said Brandon, smiling.
After that, Dan went to see his patients.
"Good morning, doctor! Can you spare a few minutes for me?" Paul told him.
"Certainly I can do this! What is the matter with you? "Dan asked him jovially.
"I've caught a cold and I'm coughing."
"Are you running a high temperature?"
"I don't think so."
Dan examined Paul' heart and lungs, but he didn't find any pathological modification. He asked Paul to widely open his mouth and to deeply breathe through the nose. He concluded that there wasn't any radical wrong sign of illness at his patient.
"You have run down a little. Take a complete rest. Get these tablets twice a day. You will be all right in three or four days. What is the matter with you, Samuel?" Dan continued to examine another patient.
"The injections you gave me helped me for a while. Now, my back pain is acting up again and my rib pain is back, "said Samuel.
"I will examine you and I will change your medical prescription," said Dan. He turned his head to Christine and asked, "What is the matter with you?"
"A week ago the surgeon had operated me. After that, I realized that I feel better than before the operation. I had made the right decision. I understood that I was given a second chance; even I had to take more pills. This change was probably one the most difficult situations I had to deal with, "said Christine.
"Let's plainly talk, Lisa, why are you here with me?" Sam asked her, slightly fondling her shoulders.
"I really don't know. I have not been cheating Michael since we began to live together. I knew that I have loved him from the moment I met him. I think I love you now, Sam," said Lisa.
"I love you too," said Sam
"From the moment that my eyes firstly saw you, I have adored you," continued Lisa.
"I will never be able to replace him," said Sam, smiling and turning his body to Lisa.
"You can make me forget my sad moments," said Lisa.
"That's nice," said Sam." You're a good girl." His eyes tried to hide something.
In a special room of a well hidden salmon colored stucco motel, Sam and Lisa have begun to meet since a while. The building had hidden parking spots, mirrored ceilings and tacky sunset murals. It seemed to be a perfect place for their meetings. She chose to be with Sam, because she felt abandoned. Her relationship with Michael failed and she wanted to be in love with someone else, a man who could love her.
She decided to live a double life, by choosing to be with both of them. At the same time, she wanted to have her own secrets. She wanted a man, who could share his thoughts with her and who could love her. She knew that everybody coming in this motel had a story as an excuse, but she loved Michael more than her life and Michael hurt her very deeply.
"I feel that my love story is the saddest story you have ever heard," said Lisa.
Sometimes the new teachers can be more effective than their veteran counterparts. While many veterans lose their passion for teaching over time, the new teachers are eager to be in the profession. Others think that the latest fad in teacher preparation cannot replace the wisdom that veteran educators gained over the years. Tom thought to be innovative. He knew that Mike, who became the new director, needed to hire him because he needed young teaching minds in the school. Tom wanted to be selfless and to have performance at work. He already had some innovative solutions for some of the problems of the school and he knew that he was able to improve the present situation.
"The new teachers tend to be more inventive and innovative with their teaching style.If they are asked to teach demonstrative lessons, they will have better results than the veterans," said Mike.
"Yes, dear, they have a different kind of knowledge,'' said Amy.
"They are taught about the most recent educational research," said Mike.
"They are excited to jump into a new career. On the other hand, the veteran teachers have had many years of successes in trying some strategies that still work very well, "said Amy.
"Teaching is a talent," said Theodore.
"A new teacher with talent can be better than a veteran one. But a veteran teacher with talent is the best, because the talent combined with the experience cannot be beat," said Amy.
"I know that all the teachers are working under the pressure to reach their achievements. I am already prepared for that," said Tom.
"Many of our teachers are interested on promulgating a kind of system by focusing on the symptoms and not on the causes. And this is reason the system fails sometimes," said Mike.
"The cause is that the teachers are allowed to practice their profession by using a revamped educational pedagogy," said Amy.
"Many veteran teachers have to be informed about the new practices and they have to implement current strategies in their lessons," said Theodore.
"The new teachers are knowledgeable about the best research, but sometimes they do not receive any support," said Tom.
"When a veteran teacher does not stay in tune with the latest best practices, a new teacher may be more efficient," said Mike
"The effectiveness cannot be assessed, when there are two opposite points of view. Try to encourage the bad teachers to become better than they are and the good teachers to share what they know with others," said Theodore.
"A good teacher must demonstrate honesty, respect, responsibility, compassion and perseverance," said Tom.
"They spend their time outside the classroom for grading papers and for their professional development and they expect compensation for this kind of work, even they have no substantial education in the fields," said Mike.
"Hopefully, these new teachers can gain experience," said Amy.
"I must go now. Tom is very well prepared to replace me and I am completely sure that he will be a very good Math teacher instead of me," said Theodore.
"How is your family life now?" Amy asked Theodore.
"Well, it is a real family dream. I love my daughter and I enjoy every day seeing her. I am glad that she is so healthy and happy. Nora became a good life partner. I understood that I should sacrifice myself for being with her, when she wanted to work in the town, but I can not turn back the time. In the Bible it is written that the woman should follow her man. She didn't understand those words, when it was necessary," said Theodore.
"You're right," said Amy.
"Tell me about you," said Theodore.
"I like my life. I have a very close relationship with my husband. We value our time we spend together and I can't imagine our life being interrupted. I have nothing to regret," said Amy.
Amy was a very passive weak woman and this was the reason why she took her husband along with her. In the morning, she looked at Mike and said," There are two reasons why I wake up in the morning. Those reasons are my alarm clock and you."
"You look so great this morning. In fact you look great every morning," said Mike, while he was kissing her.
"The rain and the sunshine do not always come together. But you represent the perfect match for me," replied Amy, touching him tenderly.
''It is raining and I don't see the sun, but I know it's there. Sometimes, I cannot see you, but you are always on my mind. You're such a romantic woman, Amy. Only in your arms I feel alive," said Mike and he put his head on her left breast.
Amy was happy to share her thoughts with the aim of encouraging the women, who were in similar circumstances.She was a leader of a local organization for women and she taught them to strongly stay against their adversities. Being a dream maker, Amy had a long history of fighting for women rights. Her relationship with her husband was a very special one. More exactly, it was one of the most complex types of relationships. She was very confident to him. Having no children of their own, they loved each other more than usual.
"The deposit is already paid and it is not complete. I don't have the goods," said Brandon.
"They asked me some surcharge payments this time," said Mark.
"Did you find a way to get out of this?" Michael asked him.
"I'm still looking for a loophole," said Mark.
"Tell the buyer to pay a higher surcharge," said Michael.
"I did it, but the buyer refused to pay. He said we had a deal. They don't have the money. Let the money bubble, live off the kick back, "said Mark.
"Try to sell the goods to another company at a higher price. Take the money and complete another deposit for them," said Brandon.
"This takes time and it will not be easy. They had already asked me how long it will take," said Mark.
".You didn't understand. They may have to wait until they can pay for the expense of the goods," said Michael.
"Okay. How does your relationship with Lisa go?" Brandon asked him.
"Lisa loves me as I love Ella. I understood her and I wanted to give her everything she needed. I don't know why I feel like she is cheating on me," said Michael.
"Maybe she's jealous," said Mark.
"It's more than this and it will not be easier for her, believe me," Michael said with a thoughtful expression on his face.
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