Charlie, Postcard Transcript

 Charlie, Postcard Transcript 

Charlie: Sometimes we have to keep the windows closed. My sister doesn't like it, but I said, you know (laughing), "I don't want to be hearing all these sounds." 

[Window opening] 

Yeah, you usually can hear, uh, ambulances and police cars and stuff like that. [Sirens] Because there's a hospital right over, about 10 minutes away from here, but, this is, uh... this is where they go by and stuff like that.  

There's a- Um... what do you call it... It's like a church bell [Church bell], but you could hear the sound of the bell when it tells the time and stuff like that. At maybe 10 o'clock at night or 8 o'clock at night, so... 

Once in a while you hear this guy saying, walking down the street and he says, "I'm going to go and come and get you!" and all this stuff, and it's like... You know... You know he's just right out of it. So. It's okay. I get used to it. 

[Window closing] 

What it is now is my 11-year-old relatives are coming back and forth. Because of their own families, they don't like nursing homes? But they're getting used to coming back and forth and staying. 

But (laugh), now with... we had some trouble with, um, homeless people taking stuff out of the mail and trying to open it up and stuff like that. So... 

He said, "(light child's voice) Uncle, where did this stuff go?" (Laughter. Resuming:) "It's in the mail." I say, "Well, we don't trust the mail anymore." (Laughter) 

I just had to make sure with the families that they did get it because I didn't want to disappoint some of the kids. 

[Call bells]  

You hear a lot of the call bells. There's a couple of ladies that have... don't use the call bells, so they yell instead of using the call bells. But as I say, I just get used to it. And say, "Get the nurse before (laughter)... Call the nurse before you fall out of bed or something like that." You know? 

I just, um... there's certain things I can't block out. But most of it I block out. 

[Call bells] 

They couldn't get me up 'cause, they knew the chair was broken. Every time the, the workers come in they say, "They fixed it yet?" I say, "No, it's been four days (laughter). I have to stay in bed type thing." 

[TV] Well, I had- I watched TV. Um, had the radio. [Radio] You know. 

(Laughing) My sister said... She said, "You wasted fruit!" I said, "Well, I couldn't get out of bed to get it! So: what am I supposed to do?" You're supposed to remind the staff, but then, they couldn't find the staff (laughing). At least I had a reason for staying in bed, and she finally said, "No more four days. (laughing) And they better be able to fix stuff from now on." 

I'll go out Friday, the end of the week, this week. For about four or five hours, so I get away from here.  

Researcher: Mm. And where do you go? 

Charlie: And, uh... Oh to Woodbine and stuff like that, you know, different places. [Racetrack, slot machine] 

Just going to see remakes of movies sometimes, that are just... New movies that come out. Almost two-and-a-half hours sometimes watching a movie. [Movie sounds] 

[Bedding music] We get away from the environment. Learn about other things, outside. So it gets me out of this place and, you know. I don't have to worry about too much.