20210719 : Covering up

Last night I had a very bad time with lots of cough. It is not unusual during this time of year and weather.

I was up most of the night and so were the nurses tending to me. It was compounded by the fact that the nebulizer didn't work properly and they made a bandaid solution to get it to somewhat work (its not a metaphor and a real plaster was used 🙂). They also had to give some cough syrup. All in all, nothing scary but not usual either.

Interestingly, when my wife asked in the morning whether I was ok in the night, I think the answer was something like "all ok".

The nebulization 3-4 times a day is quite important. I am still waiting to see if they will offer up the information to my wife and to get a new Mask set.

My experience says not today.

It may seem like very unacceptable behaviour, but it's very predictable and not out of the ordinary. Infact, these two nurses are probably the best I've had for a while. They are very good with their work and very genuinely caring.

It is a behaviour, I have seen for many years. Brushing any bad news under the carpet, disassociating oneself from unintended outcomes, etc. Basically avoiding owning up.

Most of the time, i have seen that past experience of owning up has only met some type of reprimanding, some outburst or in worst case becoming the scapegoat.

Whether it has been in some appraisal discussion or personally blamed instead of the mechanism for some outcome etc. I think the behaviour is etched from a very young age. Earlier it was flying chalk pieces, or flying blackboard dusters to the famous scale meeting knuckles which got upgraded to canes in higher classes.

I guess it was easier when we were growing up. When teachers could beat you up and forget about it. I don't know how it may be now, when you can't physically take it out and it may translate to a longer term grudge in various forms.

I think it is even more critical dealing with children and young minds. When something undesirable happens, i feel, they are not afraid of the truth, but fear the reaction they will face by telling the truth or owning up to something.

Even when grown up, do folks feel comfortable and safe to make mistakes and own up.

I guess that is the main ingredient of an innovative culture, not just intelligent brains....