Healing the Walking Wounded on Boxing Day

In order to get New Year’s off, I had to compromise and agree to work the week of Christmas. I was preparing for the worst on Christmas eve and day. Instead I was pleasantly surprised. Working on Christmas was actually quite lovely. The department was calm, the staff was happy and the patients who did come were incredibly thankful and nice. However, the next day, Boxing Day – well that was a different story. Boxing Day can be thought of as the American equivalent of Black Friday – a perfect storm of drastically reduced prices and injuries. Weather permitting (or not), shoppers line up as early as 0100 to score a great bargain, and I suspect to get a little bit of a break from the family togetherness of Christmas.

I was assigned to work in fast track and well, that was a complete bloodbath. Battle weary men and women limped in one by one, and then ten by ten with their swollen and sprained ankles while clutching their loot for dear life. A potentially major kerfluffle broke out when three patients confused their shopping bags and started to walk away with each others’ merchandise. A little old lady called a younger woman a shameless floozy after having discovered that the younger woman had managed to buy the last 52” Sony Bravia television available. Even some of the staff took extended breaks to scour the malls for some deals. Most came back shell shocked – one came back after having spent $3500 on some serious electronics and clothes. Minor lacerations were the theme of the evening when people started to dig into their merchandise with a great deal of fan fare and sharp objects. After tensor wrapping sprained ankles, setting up countless suture trays and administering an endless amount of tetanus vaccinations, I did my part for the economy and scoured the aisles for offers I could not refuse. But not before having taken a substantial shower and a long sleep.

Happy holidays and a very happy new year to everyone :)