I know there’s no shortage of RO threads in the pit, and there are many, many more things we can (and should) be outraged about IRL. But these dirtballs are something special. Try to imagine for a moment what the family must now be going through. I mean having to endure this, minutes before the woman died. Scumbags.
Scummy, yes.
But it’s one of the cardinal rules (or should be) that when you go into the hospital, you do not take your expensive jewelry with you. Thieves are generally not of the external variety.
Not much sympathy here. Who wears $7,000 worth of jewelry in hospital anyway? That’s just dumbass.
Can’t take it with her.
Depending on the jewelry, she may not have been wearing much for it to be worth $7k. A diamond wedding ring and a necklace could easily be worth – or at least insured at – that amount. When my mother-in-law was in hospital and then hospice, it didn’t occur to any of us to ask her to take off her jewelry. Frankly, sentimental and beautiful items can be of comfort when you’re ill – they’re a reminder of who you are, who you’ve been, and the people who love you.
Blaming the family, or the woman, for having the jewelry with her is stupid and mean.
Even if you think the dead woman was asking for it in some way by wearing the jewelry (and who knows, maybe this was some family heirloom that meant a great deal to her), I can’t imagine not feeling sympathy for the family. Not for the missing jewelry itself, but for the knowledge their mother/wife/whatever’s last moments included some thugs ripping stuff from her neck? I would feel violated if someone had done that to my loved one.
Edited to add: … Or what Baedalin said sixty seconds earlier.
I should have emphasized that this took place on a palliative care unit. That makes what they did beyond callous.
And y’know, it’s not impossible that when the lady went onto that unit, knowing that she was going to die there, she made sure she had her ‘special ring’ (or whatever) with her. (ETA: which is basically what choie and Beadalin said)
I’ve got a family heirloom engagement ring on my hand that’s worth more than that.
As an employee of a hospital, we’re at risk from thieves too. I have coworkers who have had their wallets stolen out of their offices while they had to step away from the desk; all it takes is being called away from your desk too many times and not locking things up at the wrong time, or complacency setting in so you stop locking that drawer, and it’s gone. Someone wanders out of a private office area and you can only ask them if they’re lost, what they’re looking for, because most of the time they are merely lost/confused/clueless. Plus I work in Ophthalmology so you get people with serious trouble reading the signs, on top of those people who think they know where they’re going and don’t read them. Act too tough and you might well have someone reporting you to the hospital administration for being unfriendly/unhelpful/racist/whatever.
A while back, we had one guy wandering in our hall area for a while, looking through office doors, and a coworker asked him what he was looking for. He claimed he was looking for a particular type of doctor, and she gave him the office number, down the hall, and pointed out the door to him. She thought she recognized him as the guy who’d been in her office suite, claiming to be lost, some weeks or so prior - right around the very time when her wallet was stolen - so she called Security. He was spotted at the other (wrong) end of the hall, looking around there, and Security caught him in a janitor’s closet, apparently hiding. The guy claimed he was lost :smack: and all they could do was escort him from the building.
From another story:
Yes, that’s fucked up. And one’s dying moments are not exactly a time when you follow sensible security procedures.
Perhaps it was her engagement ring. Maybe she loved her husband. Perhaps he’d died before her and she really missed him. Some people have emotions.
That’s kinda cold, man.
My mum has a Tiffany bought diamond set in platinum that is appraised at 17K $US, it has not been off her finger since my dad asked her to marry him in 1948. Although you would probably have to cut the finger or the ring off to get it off, she has arthritis in her hands and the knuckle is swollen enough she probably can’t get it off.
So in other words it’d be her fault. Just thought I’d save Gruntled the trouble.
The picture looks like a cutscene from GTA IV.
Yea, you’re right. Gimme all your stuff.
Fuckin’ Canadians.
I volunteer some of my time in a care center for people recovering from illnessess and the elderly. They also have hospice services there.
Here’s a chance to do a little education, since people often find themselves suddenly in the position of having a family member in the care of others with little information about what they should know.
Get to know the people who care for your loved ones pronto. Unfortunately, not all staff are there to aid others. Some are there to pay the rent and their pay isn’t very high for the things they are expected to do daily.
This means visiting during all three different shifts on different days, taking time to talk to staff, and maybe just sitting a little in a day room and listening.
The staff social worker is usually the go-to person to get to know. Establish a trusting relationship with her. Her help will be invaluable. Do this right away. You probably won’t be thinking clearly.
Remember that you will be experiencing grief, mistrust, confusion and probably some anger and check yourself that you aren’t projecting it onto people who are overworked and underpaid. You will probably see some things which seem everyday occurrences to workers there but which may shock you. The details of caring for elderly folks aren’t always pleasant. Find someone to talk to about your concerns.
By all means, take care to remove anything which is valuable enough to the family that you wouldn’t care to lose it. If your family member is ill, forgetful or confused this can be done in a number of ways which will be less upsetting to them. Get help if you can’t figure it out.
Is is okay that these things happen? Absolutely not. Do they happen? Of course. (One of the reasons I help out so that the staff can deal with the matters they’re trained to do.)
And, good grief, if at all possible, be there. You’d be amazed at how many people can complain about the services, but for any number of good, as well as invalid reasons, don’t bother to visit. I’ve noticed that people who are visited seem to get more attention. Staff knows that people care. No indication that staff doesn’t care in general. It’s just human nature to recognize when someone is loved and to respond in kind, I think.
If you wouldn’t leave a child and his precious belongings in the care of strangers, please do the same for your elderly.
Oh dear. New here, old man. I think I goofed.
S’posed to say sumpin unkind here, right?
A pox on those rotten kids!