I have gotten some flack recently for how I handled a woman with dementia, on the bus. I got her home address out of her (not easy), looked it up on my phone (she wanted to play with my phone when I did that, I wouldn't let her), and figured out what bus line and bus stop she needed, directed her to that. There have not been any reports about missing elderly so she obviously made it home and the authorities did not have to get involved (they would have if I called the police). Assuming the police would even come, if they wouldn't come for an assault they're not going to come for a lost old lady. This is The Big City.
There was a lot more involved as she did have dementia and had apparently taken a shine to me. But I'm not her caregiver. Her caregiver is the person who left her unattended so she could wander off and start taking random buses all over Houston.
It is very easy to say yes I am her caregiver. Do you ride the bus in Houston? Do you know what the bus clientele is like after dark? Here's a hint, "The Freaks come out at night" like the old song. I would have had that. I would have had to walk home in the dark on New Years Eve when everyone in my store had serious alcohol in their shopping carts.
Do you have brain damage? Post traumatic Stress from caregiving? Do you also have my illness and have to take my medication? No. Did you have an exhausting day working retail? For my boss, who was having a terrible day?
I got her home. People are acting like I threw her in the gutter. I did not.
I got her home.
I'm not even supposed to be able to take care of myself, but I got her home.
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