Conversations

Clinic yesterday was ok. It has been super muggy here in the last couple of days, but yesterday morning the rain came to cool us off. Which was a bit unfortunate for the volunteers, who got rained on. Luckily we have lots of umbrellas!

There were not a lot of protesters out this week - perhaps they weren't keen on marching around in the sticky heat. A lot of them are older people, so I imagine weather like this can be pretty uncomfortable for them. However, I did see some of the old favourites including Crazy Legs and Monochrome.

It was inside the clinic where my attention was focused this week. Not that it was particularly crazy or anything. I had one patient change her mind and just get up and leave. Generally when people decide not to go ahead, they come up to the front desk and let me know they are going. But this lady just put her little number card down on my desk and left without a word. She hadn't even had her ultrasound yet. I hope everything works out for her - her partner (who was with her) seemed supportive so that is good.

I like being in the clinic near the end of the appointments, when there are only three or four women left who haven't had their abortions yet, and there are no patients left in the waiting room, only partners. Things tend to get a bit more chill and sometimes the partners (or parents, or friends) of the patients get to talking to each other, which is what happened this week. There were three people, two of them male partners and one female friend, and they all started talking to each other about how hungry they were, which was both amusing and frustrating (I was hungry too!). But then it turned out they were all in similar lines of work, so they were chatting away about that. It just warms my heart when perfect strangers can just talk so easily to each other. And I think it puts them in a better, less anxious mood, allowing them to be more supportive of the woman they came with when she comes out of the recovery room.

Also, I only have three clinic days left until I move away! Sad face!