Just For Starters Bingo

Location: The Imperial Nursing Home

Date: Thursday, March 12, 2015; 6:30-7:45 pm

I was running late this evening and so jumped in a cab, only to get stuck in traffic.  After a discussion with the driver on the rush hour traffic in Chicago, I still arrived ahead of time.  I saw that besides 2 new volunteers there was someone whom I had seen during my previous visit here.  I was checking my messages on the phone and the new volunteers were on their devices as well.  The lady who was a veteran here said that we should all live without phones for a month.  I said that it would work as long as there were no questions asked of me!  The availability of internet nowadays has allowed everyone to be connected all the time and so we were discussing how people are looking of good shopping deals all the time.  One volunteer said that they would be scared to even move away from a webpage lest they lose out!

At Imperial again

Our Volunteer leader Celene arrived and said that while she talked to the new volunteers, the rest of us could go inside.  As I entered the lovely activity room, I saw that Polly was sharing a table with Josie.  Polly seemed to recognize me since she said that it had been a long time.  I joined them and asked what was new with them and they said nothing much.  I said same here.  The wheelchair of one of the residents behind Josie kept bumping into her chair. I guess this must have annoyed Josie since she just left.  Polly said that she was being harassed and despite Celene chasing her, Josie took the elevator upstairs.  Just another day at Imperial hunger games I guess.

With Josie leaving, we were joined by another resident Alice and her daughter Annette.  We learned that Alice had just moved in yesterday and so it was her first time at Bingo here.  She was a jovial person and so I knew that we would have a great time.  Polly told me to make sure she didn't miss her numbers, but she was doing well for herself, putting her Bingo coins down with confidence.  I praised Polly’s scarf and she said that she had received it 3 years ago at Christmas.  She mentioned having relatives in DC - a couple of nieces.  I asked if they worked for the Government and she said yes, as had she for the Post Office.  I remembered her having mentioned that before.  I love these sessions at Bingo where you get to learn about the resident’s lives.

As people started winning, I saw that amongst the prizes were stuffed animals, which Polly likes and was staring at with intent.  She did indeed win and proclaimed “Bingo” with confidence.  As Celene came with prizes I said that Polly wants a stuffed animal, though Celene tried to offer her a plush flower.  Sure enough, Polly took a bunny; right in time for ‘Easter’.  The game continued and people were winning while poor Alice had no luck.  I told her to try things like flipping cards, which she did, and using different colored chips.  Even then, she refused to exchange cards with me, and even moved to a single, "lucky card". I really liked her a lot

Finally, Annette won and asked Alice to choose, and she took green ‘St. Patrick’s Day’ towels.  I wasn’t having any luck, though Polly was on a roll.  She won again and took another bunny.  Almost all residents won, including a lady sitting on table next to us who yelled “BINGO” in a very stylish way!  In the final lightening round I finally won and asked Alice to choose, wherein she took a spectacles case.  Polly asked me to tie the bag of her presents to the back of her chair and I asked if she wanted me to drop her upstairs. She said yes and so I wheeled her to the elevator, where she asked me to turn her around and not face the back.  I could understand that.  Alice was also in our elevator and Polly asked if she would come down for the next Bingo night.  It looked like the beginning of a beautiful friendship.  I dropped Polly off and left.  It had been a rough day at work and someone had even questioned my motivations as relates to team-building.  After an evening like this, I could care less.

*All the client's names have been changed in order to respect their privacy