Sorry Comet, I disagree.

If you are working in an emergency environment then yes you may have a point. The status of the patient and of the machinery which is aiding the patient is paramount. When life hangs on sheer technical skill and knowledge there is no room for emotional involvement.

However, I think there is a degree of emotional involvement required in certain circumstances. I’ve seen nurses working in Hospices who are technically brilliant at their jobs, empty the catheter, change a colostomy bag etc etc and then go and sit at the nurse’s station while other patients want someone to talk to because they are scared, or lonely, or just can’t come to terms with their situation? It is then that emotional involvement ensures that you do a good job. I remember an old lady with no family who was into her last few hours, she was on the verge of death. She was terrified of being alone when she died. I stayed with her because no one on the next shift would sit with her. Knowing that I made those last few hours a little more bearable means more than any cardiac arrest I was involved in.

I don’t think we’ll ever agree on this one.

Regards,

kev35

Geforce and Comet.

Originally posted by Geforce
No offence, but I don`t think people should cry in public. I hate the image the media is showing us of the `new man` who cries and is sensitive. Even though I can get emotional, it`s important you don`t show it in public, at least not in our western world.

I couldn’t disagree more. I once thought the same as you but over the years I have changed. I have worked in a profession in which very strong emotions are drawn to the forefront of everyday life. To deny those emotions is, in my opinion, a mistake. I know we’re rather drifting off topic but this is interesting. I’ve worked with people who are terminally ill and inevitably, with certain people, you develop a strong emotional bond. This person may want to tell you of their fears, or of things that have happened in the past, of which they want their family to have no knowledge. It is an emotional burden and needs to find a release. The old man you have spent the last week nursing dies, over that time you have shared his fears, those of his family and friends. I always remember one old man I got particularly close to, I was there when he died. His family were on their way to the hospital at the time so it was left to me to tell them. I did, and I cried. His daughters said to me later that it made them realise that although they weren’t with him when he died, someone who cared about him was, and that made them feel better. I looked after a 14 year old girl who had taken an overdose, just as a cry for help, not intending to die, but whose liver was so seriously damaged she died before there was a chance of a transplant. On every hospital ward there is a sluice room, where all the personal waste is disposed of, ask any nurse where they go when it all gets a bit too much.

I’ve seen the other side too, the man who says ‘keep your chin up Dad’ and keeps a stiff upper lip, then spends the rest of his life in torment because he never told him how much he loved him. The man who bottled up all his emotions to the extent that when they were finally released he fractured his baby’s skull by throwing her against the wall and broke his wife’s jaw, one arm and several ribs.

If it is in your nature to cry when you become emotional, do so, and do so without any shame. It is just a facet of our character, just one of the million things that make us who we are.

Regards,

kev35

Originally posted by SteveYoung
Seafuryfan, I’m sure you also meant to include the Beaufighter 1F in the line up. Being a night fighter she doesn’t fly until after the crowds have gone and the sun has set, which I’m sure is why nobody’s noticed her… 😉

Steve,

let’s go the whole hog and have the North Coates strike wing, a massed flypast of 600 plus B-17’s and B-24’s returning from a mission, a recreation of the Arnhem drop (150 assorted Dakota’s Waco’s and Horsa’s). A dusk take off of 48 Wellingtons, Hampdens, Halifaxes, Stirlings and Lancasters, a faithful re-enactment of Operation Jericho, ground strafing by P-51’s, a rocket attack by Typhoons, tank-busting Hurricanes. To close it all, a solo dispaly by an early mark Spitfire…….

(All this is, of course, in addition to Seafuryfan’s dream.)

Regards,

kev35

Keltic,

everyone of us has feelings and emotions but many cultures, and particularly males within those cultures are encouraged to repress these displays of emotion. Typical of this is the British ‘stiff upper lip’. In the UK many men feel ‘wimpish’ if they are seen to cry, therefore bottling up these emotions until they are released at another time or in another way, often with disastrous consequences.

Regards,

kev35

Yes, I have cried at many, many movies. It’s something to do with the triumph of the human spirit over adversity that gets to me. It doesn’t bother me and I don’t try to stifle it. Why should I? It’s just one of the traits in my character that makes me who I am.

Regards,

kev35

Here goes……

Trying again. If this doesn’t work I give up!

Regards,

kev35

Hopefully, this is Duke, but he also answers to Ratbag!

Sorry, can’t get the picture to upload.