Thoughts and Observations at the Hospital Café

Poem (audio)

Photo by Waldemar on Unsplash

Here, the hospital café food
isn't "hospital food nasty". 
On the contrary, it's quite tasty—
and that's the problem precisely.
It's that, oh-no-good-for you-good!

The soups are amazing—
which means they are loaded
with gobs of heavy cream
and will eventually leave me bloated
even after just 3 scoops ladled.

Pizza is served everyday—
not just for Monday special
and there is often Taco Tuesday.
Gotta love that greasy crumbled meat
and shredded cheese in hard fried shell! 

Buttered Biscuit Country Fried Steak 
smothered with gravy is served,
Bacon Cheese Burger- double stacked
too. A serving of each is 
2,000 calories packed!

Talk about a heart attack!
Call the cardiologist!
Any legit cardiologist
and true certified nutritionist
wouldn't even step foot here.

And I should stop going to the café
altogether or just indulge in 
"food for thought" stuffing
with an organic something
when actually offered at the salad bar.

I venture here as an outside vendor 
taking in plenty to digest 
from casual observation,
and chatter of tribulation
dished up on the daily...

There's sizzling juicy gossip stuff
from the regulars: nurses and doctors
med techs and admin staff,
along with the general crew, 
rotating patients and visitors.

Photo by Li Lin on Unsplash

Very often here it’s the nurses messin'
with each other at lunch recess
doing their sassin' and de-stressin',
over their usual salad with dressin',
preferred soup and sandwich.

Photo by Katka Pavlickova on Unsplash

Occasionally, I eavesdrop
or just happen to hear convo of
co-workers or couples having it out
or hearing 'bout the loss of a patient
after a long hospital bout.

All this stuff's more compelling
than anything on the TV screens,
here—which to utter, utter chagrin
are always playing gutter trash CNN
(another reason not to go to the cafe).

Even my made-up game of guessing
"Which of the three main garbage bins
during lunch rush at the café
gets filled up first"... is more watchable 
than any whole show on the CNNs! 

I feel badly for the janitors especially 
during the café rushes.
A thankless job. Truly so! 
They should get 5x their dough
or same pay of a building engineer.

All the while at the café, I play
The game of Temptation…
at the food station.
I win, I win ... if I resist getting pizza
and fight off my French fry craving.

Oh, I really should stop going here....
Ya know what? It’s a trap! It’s a trick!
Hospitals really don’t want you healthy
That why they serve us junk food.
They want us all sick! 

Hmmm.. with all the money hospitals
get from the sickness agenda,
some of the budget could be spared
on  actual, honest to God, health food.
If only they truly cared...

Ugh... I need to stop going to the café
and do a few good laps around
the hospital perimeter instead,
walk the gardens, clear my head,
meet butterflies- not eat French fries!

Photo by Hanxiao on Unsplash

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