The Good Old Days!

When the Mental Health Urgent Care first opened more than eight years ago. It was the brain child of the county of Los Angeles to take pressure off of the local Emergency Hospitals and Jail system. Many people where incarcerated who didn't need to be and at the same time the Emergency rooms were clogged with individuals who needed emergency medication. So we were born.

Originally we were staffed with two "social workers", a nurse, and a Psychiatrist. Coming in as a Doctor of Clinical Psychology was a bonus for the organization, if I do say so myself. Anyway there were four of us that went to battle and saw on average fifteen to twenty people daily, sometimes less, sometimes more.

We flowed. Each member counted on one another, saw as many clients as possible while answering the phones, answering questions in the front lobby, assessing people at the door, and working closely with a psychiatrist, who at the beginning of our facility, didn't know if he was a man or a woman. You may find this hard to believe, but when a man looks you dead in the eye and says a little make up on everybody is a great thing.

Today we are clogged with staff, clogged with clients who are very familiar with our unique service, and have an over abundance of paperwork. But today was different. One of the staff members called off and suddenly it was only two social workers, the nurse, and the Psychiatrist who is now male through and through - though I still believe he wears make-up and has extentions in his hair.

Maybe this blog is becoming a blog about Dr. Jenkins... No, not yet. It would literally take a book to describe the antics that this guy does on a daily basis. I was wondering this past weekend as I worked on my vacation home in the desert if people could relate to the nicknames he has given me throughout the years. When you first work with him, he takes it upon himself to choose a fitting name to describe your special qualities. For example Anisa is known as "Scooter" because she is quick, fast and seems to be working at hyper speed. Aaron is known as "The Porcelean King" due to his drinking antics. I should have never worn my Scotology shirt to work - Yes he has morphed that one. My dad for my birthday bought me a shirt that said "Scotology, the study of Scott" on it. Well at first I was the Scotologist, then I was the Scrotologist, and now, well I am known by all as Scrotum. But my nickname has morphed even more and on special days I am simply known as Vagina.

So there we were, just like the good old days: Scrotum, He/She (the Psychiatrist), The Shadow (Susan), and "Shirley you Jest" the Nurse. We were AWESOME! Unfortunately the paperwork was still too involved, but this skeleton crew got the job done!

Peace!