Comments for Pilgrim State Hospital

cONTINUING FROM MY PREVIOUS COMMENT. i WORKED AS A TRANSCRIPTIONIST TYPING UP CASE HISTORIES. i WORKED IN A ROOM WITH 20 OTHER GIRLS AND WE ALL TRANSCRIBED PATIENTS' HISTORIES USING A DICTAPHONE. THERE WERE NO COPYING MACHINES IN THOSE DAYS (1957-58) SO EVERYTHING HAD TO BE TYPED. I REMEMBER WHEN THEY FIRST TRIED OUT A COPYING MACHINE (WHICH DIDN'T WORK OUT). THEY HAD A HUGE TUB FILLED WITH WATER AND CHEMICALS AND I WOULD DIP A TYPED DOCUMENT INTO THE LIQUID FOR ABOUT 5 MINUTES, THEN TAKE OUT. IT WAS TOO DARK AND THAT IDEA WAS ABANDONED. ALSO WITH NO COMPUTERS, NO WHITE OUT OR CORRECTION TAPE, ANY TYPING MISTAKES HAD TO BE FIRST SCRATCHED WITH A RAZOR BLADE AND THEN ERASED . i WORKED IN THE MAIN BUILDING, THE ADMIN BLDDG. AND OFTEN HAD TO WALK THRU THE TUNNELS TO GET TO ANOTHER BUILDING. HAD TO USE A SKELETON KEY EVERY TIME A DOOR WAS OPENED AND CLOSED. WHEN WALKING THRU THE TUNNELS, AT EACH END THERE WAS AN HONOR PATIENT WHO JUST SAT THERE. WHEN I WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE TUNNEL , THE PATIENT WOULD TURN THE LIGHTS OFF. I WAS 19 SO IT WAS SCARY. ALSO GROUPS OF PATIENTS WOULD WALK PAST OUR ROOM WITH A MATRON GUIDING THEM. ONE TIME ONE OF THE PATIENTS RAN INTO OUR ROOM, PICKED UP A CHAIR AND WAS ABOUT TO HIT OUR BOSS WHO SAT IN FRONT OF THE ROOM. THEY HAD HONOR PATIENTS ALL OVER. ONE WOULD STAND IN THE DOORWAY TO OUR ROOM AND JUST STARE AT ME. I WAS WARNED BY THE OTHER GIRLS NOT TO APPROACH HIM. I HAD THE PRIVILEGE TO GO TO THE FILE ROOM AND READ THEIR HISTORIES (BECAUSE I COULDN'T UNDERSTANDTHE DOCTORS, WHO SPOKE VERY POOR ENGLISH. ONE TIME I HAD A HARD TIME TRYING TO UNDERSATND A WORD A DOCTOR WAS SAYING (ON THE TRANSCRIBING MACHINE. INSTEAD OF SAYING "PATIENT WAS PUT IN A SAFETY SHEET" HE WAS MISPRONOUNCING "SAFETY", HE WOULD SAY "SOF ITEE" SHEET. MY MOM WORKED AT EDGEWOOD AT THE SAME TIME WHERE THEY HOUSED MENTALLY ILL PATIENTS WHO ALSO SUFFERED FROM TB.

Location: Pilgrim State Hospital
Gallery: Emptiness

on Monday, October 18th 2021

Jojo Siwa wrote:

Reminds me of that one time when I like did this thing in Newport, Alabama. Like totally my family just up and ditched me like that, I had to walk 300 miles just to get home and no way was I gonna just like hitchhike thats totally for stupid losers and homeless idiots who are too poor to go anywhere themselves bro.