“It looks like we’re only waiting on Haley,” Mr. Trenton stated, waiting in the front seat of the car. I sat in the back seat with the stranger named Garry sitting beside me. My dad had dropped me off early. He even woke me up early, but really it was all in vain. We’re waiting on Haley, and it’s too early to be waiting on anyone. I should be asleep.
Finally a car pulls up, and Haley makes a speedy transition into Mr. Trenton’s small Prius. He was a high class hippie teacher. No way would he drive a Volkswagen van with peace signs on the outside and beads instead of windows. That was too much, especially since Mr. Trenton was a hippie teacher. He had to be somewhat professional.
Once Haley was inside, we were off. We made it to the nursing home sooner than I desired. I wanted to wait in the car until it was all over, but Mr. Trenton noticed when I didn’t get out.
“C’mon, Charlie. You’ll do fine.” He said opening my door. I stared forward into the headrest of the seat in front of me, let out a sigh, and stepped out of the Prius. “You’ll do fine.” Mr. Trenton repeated. I felt like he was trying to convince himself just as much as he was me.
It really wasn’t that bad. We didn’t do anything outrageous (like massage wrinkly old people). We made their beds, and helped serve their breakfast. I was in charge of getting the elderlys' drinks and make sure they all had the lids on tight with straws. The nurses said some had a difficult time drinking out of real cups, and that they used to have a lot of nasty spills before they started using basic Wendy’s cups.
When someone would need help eating their food, or needed someone to talk to, Mr. Trenton, Haley, and Garry were all up and anxious to help, so I didn’t have to be socially active (Yes!).
They had the TV on, and it was turned onto the news. Old people portray their boringness by the things they watch on TV. I tried to change the channel, but the old people started complaining, so I flipped it back to the good old news. I don’t know how they were content with that.
Most of the day, I really just watched everyone from the food bar. I watched Haley serving people, and wondered how she did it so easily. Mr. Trenton was good too, but he was a hippie teacher; he’s supposed to be good at this stuff. Garry was a little awkward talking to the old people, but he slowly got better throughout the day. I just watched them, and wondered what I was even here for.
Then, I noticed someone watching me. He was sitting in the far left corner, directly across from the TV on the right side of the room, and his seat was turned facing the TV. But he wasn’t watching TV; his head was obviously turned facing me in the back, because it was a very difficult angle to reach even for flexible young people. His faded eyes felt cold as they watched me all day.
Later, we had to leave. It was about twelve. All I remember were those cold eyes watching me as I walked out the front door. I had ignored them all day, but I had still felt them.
They made me feel ashamed.
-Dylan Crigger
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