I mean, everybody?

I was a nurse’s assistant as my real job. So, whether it was in a facility, or doing home care, all my patients were patients. Short term or long term, me being present meant they were in the right place.

Now, there were a few patients in home care that I was their first caregiver, and holy shit did they need a ton of work. Part of the job is maintaining a healthy and safe environment, within reasonable bounds. We aren’t housekeepers, but there’s a certain amount of housekeeping that we do because it’s necessary. And, very often, you’ll find NAs doing more housekeeping than they have to do because it otherwise doesn’t get done.

But when you’re the first on the case, it isn’t unusual to find a home that’s fallen apart. Even with younger patients that have family, the way illness can disrupt life doesn’t always leave time for the little things. So there were times I’d walk in the door and find chaos, even to the point of it being dangerous (mold, infestations, etc).

And yeah, the thought would cross my mind that I wish someone else had gotten to open that door, but the patient was sure as hell in the right place in terms of having help finally. So it was more that I was glad they got me to come there, but the spirit is similar.

Now, my not-a-real-job jobs were not at all something where people came for help, so nothing related there. But I worked as a bouncer for a while, did some personal security work, did some custom fiction writing, had a little knife sharpening service, and other minor stuff over the years. But they weren’t real jobs in that I didn’t give a fuck about them beyond the paycheck, at least for the most part. I always did my best, but I wouldn’t put up with any bullshit because I could walk away and not have any regret about doing so

Only place I would have regretted quitting before I wanted to was the drag club. A lot of good folks on staff, and good customers that I would have hated to walk away from without a solid goodbye.