Adventures With Dear Miss Mermaid Child Of The Planet: Thud!

I heard a loud thud. It sounded like someone's travel trailer had blown over on its side. I ran out to see what the loud noise was about. A crowd was gathering outside, I wasn't the only one who heard the intense bang.

The clamorous thud was an inebriated man trying to get out of his scooter chair, when he fell down hard on his wooden deck. Others who had been partying with him at another trailer, rushed over, trying to pick him back up. He screamed in pain. 911 was called.

First the ambulance arrived, then the police, next the fire department, followed by more police in a conspicuous unmarked car, then yet another ambulance with the park manager hot on their heals, flooring it in an electric golf cart.

We now had a major traffic jam, as this end of the park has a slender one lane, dead end road,shaped like a horseshoe. Now all these vehicles had jammed up the dead end.

What's more of a coincidence, is that an EMT employee has just bought a travel trailer that was already parked here, moving in just days before.

I was bemused when the manager said she came rushing because she thought it might be me needing the ambulance. She had made a special effort to deliver my motorhome tags to my door a few days before, because they had been sitting in the office mail for awhile. When she came around, I apologized for not picking them up, explaining I had been in bed with a horrible fever, I was just behind on everything. She had remarked I looked sick. Gee thanks. Unfortunately, when I get sick, my whole body seems to show it. Like I've aged 20 years overnight. Fortunately, when I get well again, I bounce right back, looking peachy again.

These days, I am feeling much better, now that the prescription arrived nearly a week late, I never even bothered to take it. Oh well. I got all better without it.

When I dated a doctor for a few years, he used to say, if you go see a doctor when you are sick, chances are, they will fill you up with prescriptions and most things will go away in 3 days. If you get sick and stay home, without medical care, most illnesses will go away in 3 days. The body is remarkably strong, most maladies will often self-heal with or without medical intervention in about 3 days. Mine took nearly a week. But I'm an island girl. We are slow.

By now a crowd of bored park residents and visitors, had gathered to watch the flashing lights, the EMT's (Emergency Medical Technicians) rushing about, snapping their plastic gloves, the police staring around looking bored and so on. It was just at dusk. I had raced to scoop up the puppy from his outdoor tether, as I am parked on the inside curve of the horseshoe shaped lane, I sure didn't want him to become just another greasy spot in the road as these heavy vehicles sped past, many of them taking the curve so fast, they drove right through my grassy lot, missing the road entirely.

Puppy dog looked as interested as everybody else, at the curious goings on. He was delighted, I was holding him, as this gave him a much better vantage point. Some folks dragged their outdoor chairs over, plopping down to sit and watch, as if they were attending an athletic event.

I offered to make popcorn for the growing crowd, this was met with laughter, as more people came to watch the excitement, many with drinks in hand, hushed murmurings of "What happened?"

Someone said he knew the patient, that he drank all day, from the time he got up, until he fell down. More laughter.

Another person said he bought the scooter chair, because it came with a drink holder.

Oh my gosh, this was turning into a comedy fest.

Poor guy.

Note to self; never get drunk and fall down, requiring assistance.

For some reason, the EMT's undressed the man, down to his underpants, loaded him up on a stretcher without covering him up with a sheet, then rolled him down the edge of the road, on the grass to the last waiting ambulance. They had seemingly forgot their patient was in a great deal of pain, when they rudely bumped his stretcher up over the slight curb onto the road. The patient muttered drunken obscenities. We tried not to laugh but it looked surreal.

Mama always said, wear clean underwear, you never know when you are going to wish you really had.

It must have been a slow night in town, for all these emergency vehicles to respond to one 911 call, for an ambulance to rescue a fallen drunk. Someone else said "They all have to respond to all 911 calls." What a waste of money, to have every department respond to each and every 911 call. I have no idea who pays for this kind of service.

Because the roads in this park are single lane, it took another 15-20 minutes for the traffic snarl to untangle. Someone said their drink needed refilling. The crowd slowly broke up, after exchanging more gossip and cracking more jokes. Everyone that wandered past, seemed to want to pet the puppy, as he enthusiastically wagged his raggedy tail, offering kisses to any who dared to come close enough.