3,181 Comments Posted by Lynne

That tops one of those wonky ghost stories any day. My sincere condolences on the loss of your beer.

Oh, THIS is where "Lord Motts" came from! 8`-)

This type of tub is used for people who are nonambulatory, so they can't slip because they can't walk. This helps staff not have to bend over to the ground when placing the person in the tub and taking them out, and is usually used in conjunction with a mechanical lift of some sort. If the person you bathe is nonambulatory and/or you use a lift to get them in the tub, you really want these to be situated higher up to save your aching back (and so they have less far to fall if there is some sort of freak accident and the lift breaks). And it reduces the rate of accidents for the bathers as well because you are less likely to drop the person if you aren't straining your back as much.

See:
http://www.oregon.gov/DHS/spd/provtools/dd/safety_design/bath.shtml

As regards the curtains, sometimes the fixtures were situated higher up than you are able to see in this picture (you can't believe how high the ceilings are in most of these places) and sometimes they made use of frosted glass in the outside windows, especially if they were located on a higher floor. People don't frost glass for privacy much these days, but in years past it was a surprisingly common thing for even "normal" people to do, surprising to me because you can see anyone's outline if it is dark outside and light in the room they are in.

Being that this was a TB hospital, my guess would be "no."

Check out the Willard State Hospital exhibition on suitcases of former residents who died and whose belongings were never claimed. Fascinating, if a little one-sided and heavy on the bathos. I dislike that because it reduces people to pitiful one-dimensional victims and robs them of their true humanity, but that's just me. It's certainly less stressful to look at life in black-and-white . . .

For the past 10 to 20 years at facilities like these they have consistently bought LOTS of leisure materials - not just one per person like in Oliver Twist where the kid is always crying for more. :-) As a matter of fact, sometimes they have so much of this stuff that the safety officer comes and makes them get rid of some of it because there is so much that it's a fire hazard for exiting the building. Just because YOU love the little stuffed bear doesn't mean that the little stuffed bear was a particularly loved personal belonging of anyone in particular. It might have been just one of the many toys and materials that were set out for all the folks to play with. Whenever someone moves out we have to take every single thing they have ever owned and account for it by inventory. You may see some discarded art projects or communal books people used, but they are very strict about getting peoples' personal belongings out with them or there is hell to pay.

As far as everyone being without love, what an odd thought. Just because someone lived in an institution doesn't mean they lived without love. Some did, most didn't, but that's sort of like normal life, isn't it? Some of us get dealt the good cards and get swell and loving families and live like Paris Hilton and others of us end up with Norman Bates' mother as a close relative.

P.S. As a former school teacher, if parents kept every trinket and art project their kids made that I sent home with them they would need an extra house just to store all that crap. :-)

The thought of having your butt kicked by an out-of-control hallucinating 300 pound person would make you a LOT queasier. Trust me on this one. :-)

This place REALLY has atmosphere!

That is a fantastic shot, but I am wondering if perhaps it really isn't a soap dispenser of some sort?

Truly wonderful and weird!

Looks like a floor level perspective. Interesting.

Truly awesome . . .

Holy hot tamales!

Whoa! I just edited out a whole bunch of swear words! This shot takes the cake!

Oh, this is just too excellent! The colors and lighting are perfect!