I got a phone call from one of the adult overnight dormitory staff at Wicked Expensive Alternative Prep School around 9:00 PM. He wanted to know if it was appropriate to bring one of the boys for dental pain.
Sure, come on down. No, we don't have a dentist "on call". No, I have not idea what treatment he will get. Yes, he will be fully evaluated by the physician. No, I can't tell you how long the visit will be. Yes, we have some medicines available for patients to use until the pharmacy is open. Yes, in most cases we can call in a prescription provided you use a pharmacy that has an overnight answering machine. No, I do not have the power to order the pharmacist to open the store for you. Just get off the phone and get the kid here, huh?
Wicked Expensive Alternative Prep School has kids from all over the country and a large contingent of international students. There is a nurse who lives there, but I guess they give her a night off every once in a while. I think that along with the usual college prep courses, the kids are encouraged to pursue other interests not usually found at regular schools. Like, if they wanted to learn unicycling or something, or pottery, or start a social networking site or learn to juggle. Whatever, good for them to encourage independence and exploration. They are big on tapping into the genius of the faculty for ideas and guidance for their students' pursuits. I guess they figure the parents are paying enough money for the expertise, if they want to learn tie dyeing or candle making, fine.
Not impressed with the dorm guy, though. He forgot all the kid's paperwork that included parental permission to treat him. He wanted to know if we had someone on staff who could speak Mandarin (??). The very sweet young man spoke perfect English and oh, by the way, was KOREAN.
Does anyone but me find it disturbing that when he finished the registration process, the dorm guy wanted to know "where we put the Chinese kid?"
