Kintropy In Action

"Why did you take the wedge out of Hannah's bed?"

This was my somewhat accusatory question to Janette at our 2 am shift change.  I had noticed that Hannah was lying flat in her bed, on her stomach, pacifier in her mouth.  Her O2 saturation monitor said everything was hunky dory, but Something Had Been Changed.  She had been sleeping with her upper body elevated for the past several weeks.

"Well," Janette began, "when I was putting Hannah to bed, she was sitting up in her bed...."

Now, in everyday life, I completely rely on Janette's memory and recall.  In a typical conversation, someone might ask me what happened yesterday, and I will usually turn to Janette for the answer.  I think I am not alone in this among married men.  She is my Rock, my Harbour, my yes-this-just-happened-yesterday-but-heck-if-I-remember Harddrive.

At 2 am, quite unfairly, I had different expectations.  The way Janette began her story, I felt catapulted back to The Big Bang.  It all started with a spec of energy, a spark....

"The short version," I grunted.

Janette paused.  She was probably callibrating internally for the hour, my 'tude, and her lack of sleep.  "Ok, Hannah was sitting up in her bed...."

Ah, now I felt moved forward, quickly, to the Renaissance:  a beautiful time in history (well, in art & thought:  not sure I would want to live in the actual day-to-day world).  Still too far back for me at 2 am.

"What I'm looking for," I said, "is something like, 'She is handling it fine.'"

"She is handling it fine," Janette parroted, "and it's safer if she sits up in bed."

I nodded sagely.  Yes, now it all made sense.

-- Dad