There is an idiom that most often concerns being poor
As in having, "a pot to piss in"
If you do, you are okay
If you don't you are broke
That is not what this story is about exactly
No sir this one's about a job
A gathering of like minded folks
Who tried to do right by a bunch of other folks....
And of course...it's about the pot
He was a young Air Force Hospital Administrator
Fairly fresh out of grad school*
But with a lot of experience in hospital trenches
Having roamed the halls of several before
As an Air Force enlisted preventive medicine technician
And three years as junior officer/administrator
Shortly after he and his family arrived at the Montana missile base, he found out one wing of the World War II cantonment style hospital was completely closed. It had been a 10 bed maternity ward closed a couple years earlier because of a shortage of Air Force OB docs. He didn't like the idea of Air Force families relying on the small local community hospital for delivery services. It was pretty expensive for the government and it placed the services an unnecessary distance from the husbands and children of the moms-to-be. His idea was to reopen the suite, staff it with Air Force nurses and technicians and bring in local OB docs on contract as needed.
He successfully campaigned with Strategic Air Command headquarters staff (including Gottlieb, Morgan, Fant, Coleman, Cerha and Geiger) for assistance (read permission) and he was on his way. First, with the kind support of the Chief Nurse, Fred McDowell at another SAC base, he was loaned a young nurse with solid OB background to serve as project manager. Captain Ann White would keep everyone on track for preparing the hospital facilities to once again accept expectant moms.
Right out of the gate, he could tell Ann was detail oriented, energetic and knew exactly what needed to be done. He pulled together a main team consisting of the hospital plant manager; Morris Davis, the logistics or supply MSC; Richard Rognehough, Ann and himself. The team would be augmented by the hospital chief medical officer and nurse as needed.
Ann prepared the "to-do" list for the team, they planned regular status meetings and they were off and running. Activities ran the gamut from painting walls, sterilizing and ordering equipment to arranging staff. On one occasion, Ann even had the entire team sharing vacuum duties in the ward ventilator shafts..."Its gotta' be done in order to limit the risk of contamination guys so get your heads in there (literally) and get it done. And don't forget to wear face masks." He didn't forget. The team, dressed in grubbies, gathered at the hospital on a Saturday morning and got the job done.
There were some contentious sessions at their team meetings though. In fact, as time wore on, he began calling it "the pissing contest." It was a terrific team but they didn't all have the same ideas about how to get from point A to point B. At the end of their meetings, he took to closing with; "Okay, next pissing contest will be on ___day at 8 right here in my office. Be there or be square."
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| Engraved vintage Vollrath (maybe) 89150 Stainless Steel Military Issue Male Urinal w/ Handle |
Today, over 30 years later, that pot holds a place of honor in his office as a reminder of great days with great people. It also guarantees he will forever have a "pot to piss in" in the classic sense of the phrase.
Epilogue: Ann was the real driver on this once she got into it. We all just ended up standing back and obeying orders. She later left the Air Force and attended Columbia University where she got her PhD. I still hear from her once in a while and about her latest adventures. She is one of my heros.
*See "Grad School Kicked His Ass"
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