Story Sent in by Leia:
I met Tim and Pfeiffer, his great dane, while I was out walking Han Solo, my beagle (my name is Leia, so I might as well use the privilege).
Tim entertained me with stories about how difficult it was to keep such a mischievous hound. We then moved on to discussing ourselves. I told him that I was a nurse at a particular local hospital, and he said that he was a programmer for a small software company.
He asked me if I would want to do coffee sometime, and I told him that I would. It was only afterward that I realized that he had forgotten to ask for my number, or else I forgot to give it to him. Still, I guessed that I'd encounter him again during a future dog walk, and I looked forward to it. He seemed like a good guy.
Later that afternoon, around three, he showed up in my hall at the hospital. With Pfeiffer. How he made it up there with a great dane was anyone's guess, as dogs weren't allowed. He walked right up to me as if we were still in the park and said hi.
"What are you doing here?" I asked him.
He said, "Oh, Pfeiffer and I were out for a walk, and just passing—"
"That's very nice of you, but you can't bring a dog in here."
He gave me a blank look and said, "We just came in to visit. See, we were out for a walk and just passing—"
Pfeiffer barked. I jumped. He tore away from Tim and ran away from us, down the hall.
There were a couple of patients as well as a doctor and a few other nurses in his path. Pfieffer wasn't, apparently, interested in them, but when they saw a huge great dane tearing at them, they screamed or else jumped over desks and into patients' rooms to avoid him.
When he made it to the end of the hall, he stopped and sniffed at the floor. Tim suggested, "He might have smelled patient urine."
I yelled at Tim, "Remove your dog or we'll have you arrested!"
I don't know where those words (or any bravery to speak them) came from, but Tim turned to me and said, "He's just a dog, you bitch!" then strode calmly down the hall, grabbed Pfeiffer, walked past everyone, and exited the hall without giving me a glance.
Our coffee date never happened. Probably because he just couldn't find a cafe that allows nutty dogs to run wild.
Jedi don't C3P0 what the big deal was. Yoda one who could have Chewbacca your attitude a bit. Oh, he'll have to get somebody else to honk on his Boba fett, but he'll Lando Calrissian on his feet again, I'm sure...
ReplyDeleteoh gawd....I'm done....my brain hurts. I've used the farce far too much here....
Um...I'm team Tim. Sure, bringing the dog to the hospital was a dumb idea but damn OP, threatening to have him arrested?
ReplyDelete^ Great Danes are gigantic dogs and his could have caused A LOT of damage. There's potential for him to destroy delicate equipment worth thousands of dollars. Not to mention all of the bacteria and possible diseases that dogs carry. Bringing an unfamiliar animal to a hospital where people are already ill is irresponsible. I don't know what this moron was thinking, but he is VERY lucky that the dog didn't cause any damage or accidentally kill someone.
ReplyDeleteA great dane can no more 'accidentally kill someone' in a hospital than it can any other place. The fact that he was in a hospital was stupid, yes. And he could have caused extensive damage to hospital equipment, but most hospitals don't leave all their expensive stuff just laying out in the hallways...
DeleteHe is not 'VERY lucky' the dog didn't accidentally kill someone. He's just lucky he didn't get involved with a high-strung person who overreacted. sheesh.
The Force is with you, Howie! Or the Farce... or the Schwartz...
ReplyDeleteI love Great Danes, but a hospital is not the place for one.
ReplyDeleteStalking someone you just met at their workplace: also bad form.
A d-d-d-dog? In a HOSPITAL?! What if the dog sets a fire somehow and ignites someone's oxygen tank and then the whole hospital 'splodes? This sounds like a job for the Overreaction League!
ReplyDeleteWow, Andrew that's a really stupid argument.
ReplyDeleteAn untrained dog running loose anywhere is a problem and, yes, being in a hospital makes it worse. And the fact, according to what's written, it took being threatened for Tim to get his go get his dog, I don't think she overreacted.
I don't think she overreacted at all. #1, having a large, unleashed dog in a hospital that's trying to be sterile and be efficient is bad. #2, dogs aren't allowed in the hospital, if he was linked to her, she could've lost her job. #3, Tim didn't seem to give a shit that the dog tore off down the hallway, which leads me to believe that he didn't really do anything to stop it.
ReplyDeletePets are not allowed in hospitals. Pet hair is not good for medical devices, or asthmatics. Any allergy attack could kill someone who already has low breath volume (ie, already sick).
ReplyDeleteThe real question tho, is how he was able to get into the hospital with his dog in the first place. Don't they have security, like every hospital ive ever been to?
Um, overreaction much? It's not like Tim smuggled a Great Dane into the hospital in his jacket; from his reaction it sounds like the hospital security desk or receptionist completely failed to do their job. Obviously the OP was correct to want to get the dog out of here but maybe it would have been nice to explain WHY the dog needed to go BEFORE making threats of being arrested. I mean, she can view him as an ignorant dumbass for bringing the dog in, but he could easily (and more validity) view everyone in that hospital as an ignorant dumbass for not telling him that as he was walking inside with it. I've done volunteer work at MSKCC and there is no way a dog would EVER have got past any of the entrances.
ReplyDeleteOh yes Wolfdreams, it was everyone else's fault for not telling him dogs (and animals in general) are unpredictable, covered in germs and could seriously harm sick and possibly defenceless patients. Surely that should be just common sense. In fact she did tell him, more than once and he just ignored her!
ReplyDeleteI agree with wolf, I have to give Tim the benefit of the doubt here.
ReplyDeleteAlthough a little creepy to stalk her, I don't think he was in the wrong to bring his dog.
^ You seriously don't see anything wrong with bringing his dog to a HOSPITAL?
ReplyDelete@ Wolfdreams: I see where you're coming from, and I agree that the hospital staff was very negligent to allow him into the building, but why should she have to give him a warning? Anybody with common sense would know not to bring their animal into a hospital. What's more, he apparently made no attempt to restrain his dog after it began to tear through the hospital.
Let's see... dogs aren't allowed in hospitals... it's a delicate environment with delicate equipment, hygiene requirements and sick people... and the guy's response to this was, "he's just a dog"... right! And dog owners are just people who don't know they have to be responsible for their pets!
ReplyDelete"He's just a dog owner..."
I loathe the argument 'but nobody stopped me from doing it so it's their fault'--way to duck responsibility. However, I still might have some sympathy for 'the OP overreacted and should have explained' if the dog had been under control. As it was--she had 200lb of dog running wildly through the halls, with the owner doing *nothing* to get him under control despite people screaming and running out of the way. Let's face it, the dog could have killed someone! Extreme? Nope--picture an elderly person exercising in the hall after an operation and getting knocked over. For weak, fragile people broken bones can be fatal.
ReplyDeleteI imagine the security people were in big trouble for this...
Well, if Tim was one of those people who rarely goes to the hospital - either because of a phobia or because he's simply very healthy - then he would have little way of knowing pets were unwelcome. In such a situation I think it would be perfectly reasonable for him to assume "Well, if it was important for dogs to be left outside they would have a sign, or somebody would have said something." This may be common sense to people who are familiar with the hospital setting, but it seems unfair to assume that the information would magically propagate into his head. Especially since the OP went right from resolution step 1 (giving orders) to step 3 (making threats) entirely bypassing step 2 (explanations). Explanations are IMPORTANT - many people don't respond well to orders or threats, and can you blame them?
ReplyDelete^ I've only been in a hospital twice, once when I was born and once visiting family and even MY common sense tells me animals are not a good idea in a clean sterile environment.
ReplyDeleteOh and explainations are all well and good but as Baku said, if you have a 200lb dog out of control and you're not controling it? especially around recovering people you deserve a little chewing out.
If Tim had owned this dog for any amount of time, he would be aware of the places that it was appropriate to bring along as that rule is not just limited to hospitals. The fact that he was lacking in common sense, and an obviously negligent dog owner doesn't lend him any credibility whatsoever.
ReplyDeleteAnd what if he had refused to remove his dog? Should she have not followed through on her threat? As it was, the situation required immediate action either on his or someone else's part to restrain the dog to avoid damaging equipment or people. Threatening police action seems to be one of the very few ways to spur someone into moving their ass these days, and I don't think she over-reacted at all.
We didn't start the flame war, peeps' were hatin' on it before I left my comment.
ReplyDeleteI'm a nurse, and I've worked in a hospital for 4 years. Everyone here has good points and bad points.
ReplyDeleteThe Dog: In my hospital, there is no security or receptionist sitting by the door making sure strange and unwelcome things don't make their way inside. We do have 'therapy dogs' that people bring in all the time. They are gentle, well-trained dogs that people bring in and the patients can pet them, talk to them, whatever. Therapy dogs are proven to make people feel better and even speed up recovery. So I actually have no problem with the dog itself (and nobody else there would either) IF the dog was well behaved. It was not.
The Guy: If I had met some guy outside and made date plans with him, and he showed up at my work (especially at the hospital, a place he isn't exactly welcome if he's not sick/visiting a patient) I would have flipped my lid. It was inappropriate, and what did he think she was going to do? Leave her patients and the million things she was probably doing and go have dinner in the cafeteria with him? Stupid and weird. I would have threatened to call security if he didn't leave immediately when I told him to. He did not.
Side Note: What shift is she working? Nursing shifts here are 12 hour shifts, 7-7 days or 7-7 nights. I thought this story fishy, just on that alone. I don't think this actually happened.
Apparently, at least a few hospitals have eight-hour shifts in place:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nurseweek.com/features/98-11/shift.html
http://allnurses.com/nurses-disabilities-forum/all-nurse-shifts-266379.html#post2535795
http://allnurses.com/general-nursing-discussion/12-hour-shifts-506028.html#post4548466
That's fine. 8 hour shifts for nurses are 7am-3pm, 3pm-11pm, 11pm-7am. My issue I guess was with the wording. If it happened 'around 3' it doesn't sound like her shift had just started at 3. 'Around' makes it sound like it could have been a bit before or a bit after. Had she said 'around 4' or any other time, I wouldn't have thought it odd.
ReplyDeleteMy point is, major over reaction to him bringing a dog in the hospital. Her reaction was about right for weirdo stranger showing up at her work and not leaving immediately when she asked him to.
I can't believe that there are some people on this forum who are actually Team Tim. You're the same people who rip story writers new assholes if the story contains the phrase "the benefit of the doubt," and who foam at the mouth if the OP DOESN'T call the cops on someone who is obviously putting their date and others in danger. And now, all of a sudden, because some asshole comes to a hospital with a dog, lets it run loose down the hall, and thinks, "Oh well, no one stopped me," she's over reacting?
ReplyDeleteWow, Corio;anus, that was... um, so witty... I guess. So anyway, when can we expect you to make the clever and devastatingly sarcastic comment that will "rip me a new asshole?" Will it be anytime soon, or should I set my alert reminder for next year?
ReplyDelete