I’m still not sure if it was intended as a loving tribute or blatant mockery, since I don’t possess the power to pierce the opacity of the human heart and discern anyone’s true motives. But nine previously loyal co-workers conspired this week to dress as me for the Halloween party at our long-term care company home office.
They could have chosen Barbie, Spiderman or Taylor and Travis. Even Richard Nixon or a head of cabbage could have been a more pleasing and relevant costume choice. Instead, they rubbed their fake-bearded chins, put their pretend-balding heads together, and transformed into living, breathing incarnations of Gary Tetz.
I had no advance warning of their diabolical plan, so was shocked to suddenly be surrounded by a horrifying Halloween horde of maniacally grinning clones. Driven by an unquenchable desire to either honor or humiliate, they became me, from my hipness-free wardrobe down to my pathological Canadian apologies and lame jokes.
It was odd and unsettling to spend a day laboring alongside what came to be called the Gaggle of Garys, but I should probably be nothing but grateful. Their costumes were a mirror, providing a rare opportunity to see myself as others see me and adjust my perspectives. For instance, without them I might never have realized I was suffering from hair loss, which apparently has become quite noticeable since high school.
Long-term care being a difficult and exhausting profession for all concerned, it did occur to me that with so many other Garys around to take my place, this would have been the perfect moment to resign and creep anonymously into the sunset. But imagining the tear-streaked and anguished faces of the abandoned McKnight’s editorial team reawakened my loyalty and rekindled my passion.
Though I spent the Halloween party pretending to be emotionally wounded by my colleagues’ all-too-accurate costumes, the truth is that like a lizard on a desert rock, I was actually basking in the sunshine of their attention. Deep down, I knew it was an expression of nothing but affection. And I was reminded that whether on the front lines of a facility or in any other long-term care role or location, the feeling of teamwork and human connection plays a huge role in bringing us back together every day to make life better for seniors.
The importance of the work we each do is great, and the intrinsic rewards and motivations are many. But sometimes it’s the unconditional support and warm embrace of our co-workers that gives us the necessary strength to do this work, and do it well. Sometimes it just takes a Gaggle of Garys.
Things I Think is written by Gary Tetz, a two-time national Silver Medalist and three-time regional Gold and Silver Medal winner in the Association of Business Press Editors (ASBPE) awards program, as well as an Award of Excellence honoree in the APEX Awards. He’s been amusing, inspiring, informing and sometimes befuddling long-term care readers worldwide since the end of a previous century. He is a writer and video producer for Consonus Healthcare Services in Portland, OR.
The opinions expressed in McKnight’s Long-Term Care News guest submissions are the author’s and are not necessarily those of McKnight’s Long-Term Care News or its editors.
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