h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Things Not To Do When Visiting An NHS Establishment. - A10490474
Author: Nurse_Hagrid - U3631260

Here's a little advice about visiting hospitals. It's personal and opinionated for sure, but after 27 years of dealing with the public, my colleagues and I are still stunned at the attitude of a small number of the public who think they have rights to everything.

Nurse_Hagrid.

one should not have right to fly in the sky.

Ouch! Two blank messages and one that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Thought h2g2 was supposed to be a place for conversation. Obviously not the forum I was expecting. Not good enough for the main guide entry and obviously here either. Think I'll stick with LiveJournal.

Bye.

Nurse_Hagrid

h2g2 has its idiosyncracies. Things can be a little slow in AWW. It suits patient people. It doesn't really reward people who have a high opinion of themselves.

I guess your last comment is pretty consistent with the sentiments in the Entry. Wherever you finally settle, be sure to read and offer criticism of other people's work. Don't just expect a one-way street, where people treat your writing as something special. Selfishness and self-importance are only ever tolerated where writing is more than usually good, and even then it's not nice.

If you're still resolved to leave, be a dear and :
- apologise to the people you've just dissed (one of whom at least is among the most thoughtful and helpful critics you might ever have had)
- remove the Entry from AWW

Pin

Appologise to who? Which one? I'm not asking for special comments or treatment. But a blank message, one with emoticons or a meaningless message does not bring *ANYTHING* to the party. h2g2 proffers itself as something to add to society's knowledge and so far I have not been that impressed. I take the fact my scribing is not for the main guide, as it is part rant/sum of 27 years experience, but here I would expect something more than a blank space, or in your case a very patronising reply. If the 'kind critic' you are expecting me appologise to would actually care to step up and put in to an actual post their thoughts and feelings in whole words, sentences and maybe even a paragraph that can be digested and considered, I might change my mind. Otherwise I will continue to 'diss' thank you very much!

What I want to know is if this post is of relevence, of interest, whether anyone has any thoughts. With the continual reporting and dramatising of health care, this is from someone who works in the field and others might bring to the party their own experiences as well.

As far as leaving is concerned, I have posted my feelings about that in another part of the site. It's not that easy to do.


N_H.

Hi Nurse Hagrid, just in case you check back, my post wasn't really blank, it was my reaction having read your article.

This forum is a writing workshop - so a reader's reaction is a valid comment. But to use no words wasn't really fair on you.

What I should have said was that the problem with a piece that's really about letting off steam is that those it's aimed at are unlikely to read more than a couple of sentences, while those who don't need to hear the message end up feeling a bit brow-beaten. You need something added to it, to hook those who ought to listen and get them to read on, and to entertain those who already think as you do.

There are points in the content I'd take issue with, but I didn't feel that was relevant with this style of writing.

Hope that's better than my previous post,
Waz.

Ah, simulposts!

Replying to your latest post N_H, there are points of interest, and I'd suggest a guide to how people visiting patients was not a bad thing to have.

You need to decide whether you want a guide people might use, in which case it would need a different tone and would probably make a valid Edited Guide entry.

Or whether you want to persuade by exageration - almost a cartoonisation, if you see what I mean. Your piece presently falls between the two.

Waz

That's more like it! Thanks to those who have given suggestions for my scribings. Now I have something to go on, I can think about it and make some changes. Whilst I'm still in two minds about continuing here, the constructive advice has been helpful as I tend to be a 'stream of consciousness' writer.

Thanks again to those who have made the effort to help.

N_H.

Ooops, so sorry Nurse.

There should have been a sign there to show I would read you later. Damn fingers