By Lorraine
They can’t see
me. The doctors, some nurses, they can’t
see me.
I walk in to a patient room, dump the garbage, they continue their
conversations without pausing. A doctor
explains to a patient in English that he must run some tests. In English he asks for her permission. Above her bed in bright yellow is a sign that
reads speak to me in Spanish. The woman
nods and smiles reflecting the doctor’s motions. I clear my throat and nod towards the sign.
“She doesn’t speak English. You might want to get and interpreter.”
“She doesn’t need
one. She understands me.”
This piece is
something I have been working on for some time.
I work in a hospital as a housekeeper and I want to write about my
experiences. I think the perspective of
a housekeeper is unique. I have seen a
lot of work from doctors and nurses but nothing from the point of view of housekeepers. Most of my work about the hospital has been
journal writing. I had written some
short story pieces prior to this class.
I have written a few poems and short stories
before this class. I think because there
were no rules in the experimental piece it was like writing poetry. Once I had the idea that I wanted to write
from a different perspective, an inanimate object, the writing became
easy. In the past, it has been hard for
me to write about the hospital, I always got stuck, but the experimental piece
helped me to describe a typical week on a hospital ward.
Because of the practice of writing everyday,
and blogging, and the readings, my confidence and my writing skills grew. I had never blogged before this class and it
was fun to share my work and see what other people were working on. The readings opened my eyes to different
formats and styles of writing. I look
forward to reading more non-fiction and playing with the different styles to
see what fits for me.
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