September 4, 2021
gasconheart Dear readers, I am presenting to you the third interview of this series for my blog. This time we are going to talk with an incredible person I've met recently in an IRC server. Thank you for accepting my invitation for this interview for my blog. Please introduce yourself: who are you and what's your profession.
Violeta My name is Violeta and I'm 45 years old.
gasconheart I first met you in a chat! What do you do in that chat?
Violeta I play trivia in that chat.
gasconheart But you're also an ircop there, is that right?
Violeta Yes.
gasconheart How are the people you encounter in that trivia?
Violeta Most are nice people, but there are some that would attack you without a reason.
gasconheart That is also "normal"... People take advantage of the anonimity the Internet offers... Don't they?
Violeta I can say they do.
gasconheart But what is your profession actually? Please tell my readers.
Violeta I am a nurse in a home for the elderly.
gasconheart When I met you, you told me you can't understand how some people can take their parents to such a place. Can you elaborate?
Violeta I can't understand it because parents can raise one, two ot ten children. And then when we are old, the children don't have the time to take care of us. I for one could have never sent my own mother to such a place.
gasconheart And yet sometimes the need imposes itself... Back then precisely my aunt had to send her own mother, a 92-year-old lady, to a home for the elderly... She couldn't cope anymore. Sometimes those homes are a valid alternative. Sometimes. Are they?
Violeta It is true that it is a valid alternative. In many cases there are other alternatives. And yet they take them to homes.
gasconheart What would a different alternative be?
Violeta When I first came to Germany I went to the house of a family to look after the gentleman there. Since his daughter did not accept taking him to a home for senior citizens, she payed me instead not to take him to the home.
gasconheart I understand. Private care, a private caretaker. OK. I can imagine yours is a very tough job. What are the hardest memories, so to speak, you have from this job?
Violeta I can't say I have hard memories. What hurt me the most though was when I got to thinking I was doing this job while I could not take care of my own mother, I could not help my sister so it is not that hard on her. This was my biggest suffering.
gasconheart OK, but, the way I see things, these things make you a heroine; really. It is your job. You fulfill it the best you can. And I know you do it very well. Sure, comparisons come to mind as to what you could do for your loved ones... It would be wrong to guilt trip yourself; in my opinion. But that feeling is understandable and normal.
Violeta In my profession you ponder that this one is these people's last path.
gasconheart I'm sure you also have pleasant memories. I know that recently you had such an experience. Please tell my readers.
Violeta Some days ago I was begining my shift. I have to go to each patient's room. I had only one person left to go. I walked in, I said hi, and I had to change their diapers. Some minutes later I saw the color of her fingers was changing. I put her back quickly on the bed and I called my boss. She tried to take her blood pressure. And she could not measure her blood pressure. She had hardly any. She called 112 quickly. After that I tell my boss to put her the oxygen device. The ambulance came and took her. But.… unfortunately she died the next day. She had a heart failure.
gasconheart Anyway, in that moment, you did your job, and very well so. That's what I believe.
Violeta But in my soul I knew I had done something humane.
gasconheart I can't but agree.
Violeta Had we not put her the oxygen device, she would have died right in front of us. What can I say. May God rest her soul.
gasconheart In the moment, you did everything you could. Congratulations. Tell us, please, how does society regard your profession?
Violeta Each one has a different opinion.
gasconheart How so?
Violeta I remember what a random man once told me--who claimed to be an engineer, which I doubt--when he found out I did the job I did, he told me the following: you are going to die wiping geezer's butts.
gasconheart What callousness!
Violeta Other people tell me: I don't know how you resist. It is true that there is a great deal of stress, but I think that anyone of us could end up like this. And illness does not ask anyone what their profession was.
gasconheart That is right.
Violeta It is very heart-breaking.
gasconheart I am of the opinion that what you do is key for the development of society, and you deserve all the respect and even admiration for all you do.
Violeta For exemple, I have an old lady who always says 'Marianne'. And when I hear she calls Marianne, I reply to her. Marianne is her daughter. Honestly, it is very heart-breaking.
gasconheart I repeat: because of what you do, you're a heroine. But do you, personally, perceive yourself as one?
Violeta Heroine, I can't see I view myself as one.
gasconheart I understand. Einstein never said "hey, I'm a genius" either.
Violeta The nature of my profession is for people who, many, don't have anyone in life. We are their last family.
gasconheart Enduring something like that must be unbelievably harsh. Congratulations. And thanks, in a way, on behalf of the entire society, even though, sure, I can't speak on behalf of the entire society, but I know that what you do is for the whole, for all of us.
Violeta My boss told me once that everything I do, all my attention is on my daughter, and that when I grow old she's going to throw me in a home. And I replied to her as follows: if she considers that I deserve that much, I have no way to oppose that.
gasconheart I consider that life difficulties make you stronger. And I know for a fact that you're a strong woman, humane and generous. Thank you very much for your time. Would you like to give my readers a final message before we say good-bye?
Violeta Yes, I would.
gasconheart Go ahead, please.
Violeta This much I can tell your readers. With my eyes full of tears and with a grieving soul, I tell you guys: don't you ever forget your parents and love them while they're alive. Don't you ever leave for tomorrow what you can do today.
gasconheart Thank you very much for granting me this interview. Good luck with everything.
Violeta Thank you.
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