For several years I have been going to the Cardio/Pulmonary Rehab unit at the local hospital. I try to get there each Monday, Wednesday and Friday, if I have no scheduling conflicts. Over the time I have been involved with the unit, I have become friends with some of the other folks who have also been “long-timers” vis a vis their participation. Some of them have a pass that allows them to enter from the parking deck to the actual floor where the Rehab Unit is located. Recently, I have been scheduling my time to arrive when one of the other guys is there so I can enter with them. It has proven to be quite convenient and when we’re done, we can go back to the parking deck to our parked cars.
Now comes the day that one of my newfound friends and I get “busted in rehab”. We are not supposed to enter the building until 7:00 AM, but on this day we entered at about 6:50 AM and thus became fugitives of justice by virtue of our errant behavior. Upon reaching the floor, which also houses the Wound Unit Treatment Program, the receptionist for this unit made a telephone call to security to come and escort my friend and I from the confines of the waiting room for the Wound Unit. She stated that she could not be liable for us and that we did not belong there until the bewitching hour of 7:00 AM. Her concern about liability is interesting given that my friend is 87 and I’m 82; therefore, not sure what we could have done that would have been a liability. She directed us to leave the waiting room and go out the door and wait. My friend just kept walking back toward the Rehab Unit and refused to acknowledge her commands. I told her I was going to return to my car and began slowly walking that direction. About the time we reached the doors to the Rehab Unit, a staff member opened the door, and we went into the room to sign in, and begin our workout regime.
While we were both on a respective treadmill, in comes security searching for the wayward culprits who had committed such a dastardly act as to enter 10 minutes early and sit in an empty waiting room. When the receptionist pointed us out to the security officer, the officer began talking to us about our devious actions and warned us that it better not happen again. As she talked and took notes with her pen and notebook in hand, it reminded me of an episode of Dragnet—the TV show of years gone by-- when Joe Friday, “just wanted the facts and nothing but the facts”. As we continued walking on the treadmill, expecting to be cuffed and shackled at any moment and “per-ped walked” out of the unit down the hallway, the saga continued. I played a bit dumb, (not hard for me to do) and let my friend” take the heart” with security. In his rambling attempt to put some semblance of an explanation to what we had done, my friend invoked our other friend into the conversation, stating he would talk to him and have him intervene with the hospital’s upper management. The third person amongst the “Three Amigos” is a retired physician, thus it was assumed that he had connections that could be beneficial to our subsequent release, should we be detained for what we had done.
When our doctor friend arrived, my friend attempted to bring him into our fold, but he would not agree and stated that we should just follow the rules. So much for invoking the ire of upper management. Well, when all was said and done, we promised that we would be good and follow the rules and since that fateful day, the three of us have been nothing but compliant about when we enter the building.